Code Lyoko: Project ZAIA
by Evil Jeremy
Summary: 1 year after XANA's demise and the gang shuts down the supercomputer, Franz Hopper's mysterious past launches a war for the future of Lyoko. With the French government involved, no one is safe. Serialized drama.
1. Episode 1

February 6, 2005

It was another normal day of work for Damon. At least, it was as normal as it could get. Damon worked for the French government, in an (intentionally) lesser known division of the secret service known as "Project Zaia". He was one of the few people to cross over to this project from its predecessor, "Project Carthage", but with good reason. He was the reason the main events over the past couple of years transpired. Events that many people have forgotten; thanks to the white dome of light that has kept turning back the clock time after time after time. Damon was a man with secrets galore.

One of his secrets was that he was happily married and had a child. This was a secret in the sense that he did not like others in the workplace knowing about his personal life, just as he kept his work life away from home. His son, Curtis, was your usual technology obsessed teen. And, he just happened to be down the hall, walking towards the lab Damon was now working in.

"Any luck deciphering the chip?" asked one of Damon's colleges. "Not yet, but I am close" he replied. Damon was working on cracking a chip that he retrieved from the supercomputer that allowed people to access the territory now known as "Lyoko". This chip in particular allowed the user to take over someone's mind and body. He copied the data from the original chip into a SD card, and put the original chip back in its place in the supercomputer. While he had done this years ago, it was only now that he started focusing on the chip again, as it was only recently he discovered the supercomputer was reactivated, which was the reasoning for Project Zaia's existence.

Meanwhile, Curtis was walking down the hall towards the lab room. Curtis was always a fan of jackets, and today was sporting a red one. He walked down the hall, listening to his iPod. He walked up to the entrance of the lab and walked in. "Curtis, what the hell are you doing here?" Damon yelled when he saw his son, but Curtis did not respond immediately. He walked up to his dad and said "duck". Although, it was not him speaking. It was something else, and Damon's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, and he ducked.

After about 5 seconds of hiding under the table with ravenous noise around him, he stood up. His colleagues were all knocked out, and his son was standing in the center of the room, his hands flaring with energy. "Your not my son" Damon said slowly and quietly. "Very observant" said the entity possessing Curtis. "What do you want XANA?" Damon said with a little more confidence as he stood up. Curtis's body smiled as he approached Damon. "I need that chip" he said, pointing to the piece of hardware Damon was experimenting on.

"Why?" Damon asked simply. "I need it to continue my project" XANA said. "XANA, your going to far. You need to step back and stop interfering with people's lives" Damon said, though he immediately regretted it, as lightning shot out of his son's hands and shocked him. He fell to the floor in great pain. "I know I was a result of your feud with Franz, but that does not matter anymore. I have a goal to complete, and I am not going to let you get in my way" XANA said impatiently. XANA in Curtis's body walked towards the chip, and picked up. "What are you going to do with it?" Damon asked from the floor, still withering in pain. "I am sending it as a present to a dear friend" XANA said with a smile as he took the chip and inserted it into the back of a pendant. "It's all a part of the plan". "Just keep my son's body safe" was the last thing Damon said before he passed out from the pain.

May 24, 2008:

The day had finally arrived. Graduation day for the Lyoko warriors. Jeremy and Aelita sat together, now a couple, as were Ulrich and Yumi. Odd was still single, though he was not sitting alone, as he was stationed right between the two aforementioned couples. "Thank you for joining us today" said Mr. Delmas as he took the microphone from the stage. "This is a very important day in the lives of our graduating class" he said, and that was the start of his drabbling for the next 10 minutes, which all of the audience (except for Sissy, who was always finding opportunities to suck up to daddy) generally ignored.

"What do you want to do for dinner?" Ulrich asked Yumi. They have been dating for over half a year now, and things have been going great. The first 3 or so months after the shutting down of Lyoko were rough for the two of them, but after that, they started getting along better, and now, about a year after shutting down Lyoko, they were a happy teen couple. "I would love to, but my family is going out to dinner to celebrate" Yumi replied.

Things were also going great for Jeremy and Aelita. They were as smitten for each other as they were all those years ago when Aelita was devirtualized from Lyoko for the first time. "Your father would be proud of you" Jeremy said to her, and she replied by kissing him on the cheek, to which he blushed. Odd, who was in between the two couples, tried getting attention by acting being grossed out by the actions around him, but he was ignored.

Everything changed, however, when a gunshot came from the back of the crowd. "What was that?" Jeremy asked aloud as he turned around. Mr. Delmas dropped the microphone in shock, and Jim tackled the shooter of the gun. "On behalf of the French government, get off of me" said the intruder to the graduation ceremony. Jim backed off, and the intruder stood back up. "I am looking for a student by the name of Jeremy Belpois. Is he here?" the man asked. Jeremy looked towards his friends in fear. "He can't harm you" Aelita said quietly, and Jeremy stood up. "Who asks?" Jeremy said aloud. The intruder grinned the kind of grin you see on psychotic people.

"My name is Damon, and I work for an organization known as "Project Zaia". Jeremy stood there with a blank expression before he spoke. "I have been wondering what was taking you guys so long to find me" he said out loud. This conversation was happening with all the students, faculty, and parents of those students watching and listening. "Although Lyoko is gone, what could you guys possibly want?" Jeremy asked. Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, the size of a computer chip. In fact, it was a computer chip, the very one that possessed Aelita. "I found this in your room" Damon said.


	2. Episode 2

Welcome to episode 2. Thats right, I am treating these as episodes rather than chapters. And like shows on TV, the amount of episodes they have are based on their reception. I have planned out the next 2 episodes after this one and am committed to writing them. However, future episodes after that depend on if people are interested. So if you want to show your interest, write up reviews! I don't care if they are good or bad, as I am open to criticism, it helps me improve.

Anyways, just like episode 1 drew on the Valentines day episode, this one draws on the season 2 finale "The Key" and the season 3 episode "Aelita". Enjoy!

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Episode 2: "The Program"

"Why are you here Damon? Why now?" Jeremy asked his interrogator. After interrupting the graduation ceremony, Damon asked Jeremy where there was a small place they could talk alone, and Jeremy brought Damon to his room. "Why not now?" Damon asked in response. "Damon, I can operate a supercomputer" Jeremy started saying. "I am smart enough to know that you have an ulterior motive". Damon sighed, than sat down on Jeremy's bed. "Your right, you are smart. In fact, I expect you know why I am here" Damon said with a smirk. "Perhaps I do" Jeremy said with his best poker face, although he could not pull it off.

Damon picked up the computer chip from the table it was resting on. "What do you know about this chip?" Damon asked Jeremy bluntly. "I know it contains a powerful virus" Jeremy said. "Then why didn't you destroy it?" Damon asked him curiously. Jeremy had been asked this question multiple times by his friends, specifically Aelita, and already knew his answer. "I didn't know what the consequences could be. The virus contained in that SD card is more powerful than you know".

Damon smiled with glee. He did know what was on the chip, how powerful it was, and what the consequences of destroying the chip could be. That was not, however, why he was here with Jeremy today. "I need this chip back" he said simply. "Perhaps you did not hear me, there is a powerful virus on-" Jeremy said, but the government official cut him off. "I know what's on the chip. In fact, I am the reason it exists in its current form" he said.

That sentence alone shocked Jeremy greatly. "You…. you know about XANA?" Jeremy asked hesitantly. "We know a lot more than you think we know" Damon said. "Who is 'we'?" Jeremy asked cautiously. Damon cracked his knuckles before starting his explanation. "I work for a division of the government known as 'Project Zaia" he said. "Our project has been assembled from the remainments of another government operation you are all to familiar with. Project Carthage".

Damon stood up and started pacing before continuing. "Unfortunally, one of the heads of the project went rouge on us" he said, and looked at Jeremy to see if he knew who he was talking about. "Hopper" Jeremy said to himself, and Damon nodded. "The 'Zaia' division was created in order to recover the technology that we lost with Franz. One of the pieces we set forth to recover was this very chip" he said while examining the computer chip.

"Why do you need that chip? Keep in mind that there is a powerful virus on it" Jeremy told Damon, who grinned. "There is data on this chip that can help us learn more about linking the virtual to reality". "Can you elaborate on that?" Jeremy asked. "Franz Hopper, XANA, and even you were able to transfer information from the virtual world of Project Carthage to the real world. You did it through scanners, and XANA normally did it through specters. However, he was able to utilize this chip in order to accomplish the same goal. It is our goal at 'Zaia' to find out how he did so, which means experimenting on this chip" Damon said.

Jeremy was confused. Not about why this so called team needed to experiment on this chip, but why they waited so long. XANA had been destroyed a year ago, and what Damon knows as "Project Carthage" was shut down shortly after XANA's demise. Jeremy realized something fishy was going on, and so he asked the question that he realized was never answered.

"You never told me why you were doing this now of all times" Jeremy said with confidence to Damon, who sighed and sat back down on Jeremy's bed. "XANA and Project Carthage have been gone for about a year now, so why did you wait until now to approach me about this?" Jeremy asked. "The virtual world you know as 'Lyoko' has been reactivated" Damon said hesitantly. Jeremy was now much more interested in this conversation.

June 6, 1994, Day 2,547

Franz was sitting at his piano, playing his favorite tune, when it happened. He heard the knocking on his door, and saw Damon as well as another government official outside his house. The next couple minutes flew by very fast for him. His daughter came running down the stairs, yelling "daddy!" "This way" he told her, pointing her in the direction of the stairs to the basement. They both went down together and exited their house through the secret back door, with Damon and the other suited man on their tail.

Both Franz and Aelita entered the sewers. Aelita was more scared than she ever was before. "Are those the same people who took mom away?" she asked him quietly. "Don't worry about them darling" Franz said as he led her through the sewers to the ladder to the bridge. "Where are we going?" she asked, quivering with fear. "Somewhere better, somewhere where we will be safe" he said.

Damon was on their tail. He followed Franz and Aelita into the sewers and stayed far behind them. He did not need to follow them, as he knew where Franz was going and how to get there. "Stay here" he told his partner, who obliged. Damon quietly followed his target through the sewers, and watched Franz help his daughter climb up the ladder.

In the factory, Aelita and Franz entered the elevator. Damon watched the doors close from a safe distance, and then proceeded to go to the elevator control panel himself. When the elevator made its return trip, Damon entered it, pressed the correct number combination on the key pad, and selected the supercomputer room as his destination. He knew where Franz was in the factory, and he knew what he was planning on doing. Damon knew at this point that he could not take out Franz directly, but he knew who could, or more correctly, "what" could.

The elevator doors opened and Damon entered the supercomputer room. He saw the tower of technology active, and knew it was transferring Franz and his daughter to their new home. Damon walked up to the supercomputer's base, and pulled out the drive labeled "XANA". XANA was the program that Franz designed based off of earlier software models created by Damon. XANA was created to keep Lyoko safe for Franz and his daughter, while destroying Project Carthage.

"Sorry Franz, but what must be done, must be done" Damon said to himself. "There will be no more good days for you" he finished, even though he knew no one was listening. Damon pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket, as well as multiple computer chips. He was prepared for this moment, and had been for a long time. He has been prepared for this moment for the past 2,547 days. Franz was not the only one who remembered the events of the returns to the past.

He used his screwdriver to open up the hardware block that contained the XANA program. He took out various chips and replaced them with the ones that he brought. "Sorry old pal" he said as he put the hardware block back in its place in the super computer. He watched as sparks emitted from the block, and started radiating throughout the computer. Damon smiled. He knew what was happening: The newly corrupted program was spreading through the rest of the supercomputer. It was no longer just part of a hardware block; it was now in the file streams of the virtual world that Franz Hopper now resided in.

More importantly though, he knew what was happening inside the computer. Not only did he cause the program to spread throughout the computer, he corrupted it. Franz wanted his world to be safe, and thus created the XANA program. Damon wanted Franz destroyed on behalf of the French government (and the Carthage project), and thus corrupted the XANA program. Damon simply reversed the program's programming. Instead of protecting Franz and destroying Carthage, it would destroy Franz and protect Carthage.

Although he knew what he created, he didn't know what exactly was going on in the computer itself, or the virtual world in the computer. All he knew was that he turned Franz's most valuable asset against its creator. Damon waited a few minutes to see if anything would happen, and just when he was getting ready to leave, something did happen. The tower of technology, the giant computer sitting in front of him, shut down. The lights that inhabited it, and the sounds of the hardware running it both ceased. For all intents and purposes, "Project Carthage", or whatever Franz made of it, was ceasing operations. Damon did not know why it was. Perhaps Franz shut it down remotely, or perhaps the XANA program corrupted the hardware, but all Damon knew was that his job was done. For all intents and purposes, Franz Hopper was no more, and that was all Damon cared about.


	3. Episode 3

Episode 3: "For the Better"

June 5, 1994:

"Your intentions are horrid" an angered Franz told Damon. "Regardless of if you like it or not, it is the direction the government wants this project to go in" Damon replied. "When I signed on to this project, I did not intend on creating a military weapon" Franz said, making his anger known. "It's not a weapon" Damon said sleazily. "It's only a weapon if used to do harm. All this project will do is spy on our enemies" he finished.

Damon and Franz were arguing about what direction to take Project Carthage in. So much technology has been developed for the project, and so many results were coming from it, that the government wanted to utilize the technology for the military. "It's not our decision anyways" Damon said. "I disagree" was Franz's response. "We are the heads of this project; we can stand up to their decision". "It's to late Franz. The technology is currently being added to the prototype military space station. They are installing a supercomputer with the project Carthage data". Franz was shocked by this. "Didn't they ask for our approval?" Franz asked, horrified. "They are the government, they do what they want" said Damon.

"Still though, its all for a good cause" Damon said reassuringly. "No" Franz said quietly. "This is not what I signed up to do". "If we didn't do this, someone else would get a hold of the technology and use it against us" Damon said. "If that were the case, maybe the technology should be destroyed" Franz said. "Are you kidding?" replied Damon in awe. "You realize how much time and money went into this experiment?". Franz thought about what Damon said before responding. "I no longer want to be a part of this project if it is being used for the military. I designed project Carthage for different reasons".

"You have no idea how destructive this technology can be in enemy hands, Franz" said Damon. "If this gets loose, it can lead to catastrophic wars". "Which is exactly why it needs to be destroyed" argued Franz. "But as long as we can control it," Damon shouted over Franz. "As long as the technology is contained, France can use it to its advantage". Franz looked into the eyes of his partner, and he could not believe what was going on. "I thought you were on my side Damon" Franz said. "But I thought wrong. Tell the government that that I quit" he said before walking out of the room. He did not want to be part of a military operation.

Damon decided that he needed to show Franz the danger that the experimental project could pose if it fell into the wrong hands. He stayed up that night creating a program that should represent the worst case scenarios of the Carthage. "This will teach him" Damon thought to himself. What he did not know at the time was that he was creating the first version of the program that would cause hell to Franz, as well as a group of kids down the road.

Once he completed his experimental program, he drove to the factory that housed the supercomputer. He used he elevator and traveled down to the room that housed the towers of technology. At the moment, the program he created was stored on a simple floppy disk, which he inserted into the proper drive in the supercomputer. He only designed the program to create a simulated worst case scenario environment in Franz's house, just long enough to show Franz what could happen if the technology was not contained properly, but once sparks started coming out of the supercomputer, Damon realized something: He was an idiot.

He quickly took the floppy disk out of the drive, but it was too late. The virus was already spreading throughout the rest of the supercomputer.

June 6, 1994, Day 1:

"Morning honey" Franz said as he woke up the following morning, but she did not respond. Franz turned around to look at her, but she was motionless. He tried shaking her, but she did not wake up. "Anthea?" he asked aloud. He quickly checked her eyes, and was horrified at what he saw. Instead of pupils, he found the symbol of project Carthage. He jumped back scared, watching her lay there.

Franz sat there in horror for a couple minutes, just looking at her motionless body. He didn't want to get the authorities and medics involved, because he did not want any investigations to lead to project Carthage. Franz knew of one method to fix his wife though. He got up from the bed, walked downstairs, picked up his keys, and drove to the factory as quickly as he could.

By the time the factory elevator took Franz down to the main room, Damon was already there using the computer interface. "What did you do?" Franz asked Damon with anger. "I thought you quit" Damon said cheerily. Franz was not in the mood for joking around and walked up to Damon. "What did you do?" Franz asked again, looking into Damon's eyes. Damon knew he was in a tough spot, and decided it was better to be honest.

"I ran a program through the supercomputer last night" Damon said quickly. "What kind of program?" Franz asked, with his anger flowing through his eyes. "Well, ugh" Damon said, hesitating. "I wanted to show you what could happen if enemy governments took control of the tech. I created the program to simulate a worst case scenario in your house. I take it by your reaction that it worked?" Damon spat out all at once.

Rage filled Franz's eyes when he heard what Damon had to say for himself. Without thinking, without processing the info, he punched Damon in the face. "What the hell has gotten into you?" Damon asked horrified from the ground. "When I woke up this morning, Anthea was comatose" Franz said as tears started rolling down his face. "And the symbol of the project was embedded in her eyes" he continued. Damon's face drained of color when he realized the consequences of his actions.

"Is she ok?" Damon asked slowly, angering Franz even more. "She will be as soon as I launch a return to the past" said Franz. "But as for you" he said, kneeling down to speak to Damon, who was struggling to get up, at eye level. "This is my project. I started it, and I am going to finish it my way" Franz told Damon. "You are to get out of here for now and forever. This is my experiment, and I am doing it my way".

Franz stood back up and walked over to the computer interface. "Franz, wait" Damon said, panting from the ground. Franz stopped walking and turned around to face his old partner. "You press that button, and you become an enemy of the French government" Damon said. "Once they used my tech for the military, the French government became an enemy of me" Franz said. "So it's fitting then" he said as he launched a return to the past.

June 6, 1994, Day 2:

Franz woke up that morning for the second time, but kept his eyes closed. "Please work" he thought to himself, and he opened his eyes. He turned to his right, expecting to see his wife in some form or another, but she wasn't there. A dead weight dropped inside Franz, and he quickly got up and started searching the house for her to no avail. He checked the kitchen for a note from here, but there was none. He inspected every part of the house to try to find her, but she was gone. No trace of her anywhere. She just disappeared.

"Something went wrong" Franz said to himself as tears started filling his eyes. For the second time in that same day, he grabbed his keys, entered his car, and drove to the factory. This time though, it was empty when he got there. Damon must have remembered Franz's threat. Franz knew he would, as Damon was also scanned into the supercomputer and retains memories through the RTTPs. But that knowledge did not make Franz feel any better.

Franz logged into the computer interface and started searching through the RTTP logs for info on what happened. After searching for a couple of minutes though, he found what he was looking for, though not what he expected to find. He discovered a log of the program that Damon created. Looking through the log, he discovered that the program spread throughout the entire supercomputer, and was making itself a home on the digital field of project Carthage.

Even more horrifying though, was that he discovered that the program was the reasoning for Anthea's death. Reading through the file was the first time he actually realized that Anthea was dead, and everything started to click inside his mind. If she was dead because of an anomaly related to the supercomputer, a return to the past from the same supercomputer would not reverse the effect. Franz just sat there as his revelation became clear to him. Anthea, his wife, his daughter's mother, not only was dead by the hands of a program designed by his work partner, but gone. Her body disappeared into the emptiness of nothing.

Franz was sitting there, tears streaming down his eyes, his hands trembling, and it was a few minutes before he made his next move. He pulled up the video recording feature of the computer interface and clicked the "record" button.

"June 6, 1944" he started to say, but corrected himself immediately. "Actually, June 6 for the second time" he said. "I have just come to the conclusion that I must destroy all trails of project Carthage" he said through his tears. "The government intends to use it as a military operation, and that is not the project I signed up for. The change in this project has indirectly resulted in the death of my wife" he said, letting out some sobs on the last part. "It is my intent to take the very program responsible for her death and reform it into a program that will destroy Carthage. I hope to be able to complete this project by the end of today. I just don't know how many 'today's' that will take".


	4. Episode 4

This is the last episode of my original commitment, but thanks to people showing interest (Even though there is only 1 reviewer, thank you very much Ovan-Rebirth, there are still a decent chunk of people reading this), I have planned out the next 2 chapters and will write those. After that, who knows?

Anyways, its not as fun writing these if I don't get feedback from the readers. Again, thank you very much Ovan-Rebirth, but I know there are many more of you reading. Please review, even if you are going to pan the story, criticism is helpful! I know you know where the review button is lol! Anyways, enjoy episode 4. I might of gotten some of the facts mixed up, so I will take a look and edit out inconsistencies later on.

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Episode 4: "Flashes of Light"

"When you say… reactivated" Jeremy started off slowly after Damon said that Lyoko was active again. "I mean reactivated" Damon confirmed. "As in back on, rebooted, once again active". Jeremy was at a loss of words, except for one which he let out. "How?" he asked, still confused at the situation at hand. "We turned off the supercomputer, did you turn it back on?" he asked Damon.

Damon thought for a couple of seconds before replying. "Project Carthage on the digital plane, or as you call it, 'Lyoko', was never actually shut down" Damon said. "We shut down the supercomputer that hosted it" Jeremy informed the government official. "No supercomputer actually hosts the digital worlds, they just allow access to them" Damon explained. "The worlds are hosted on government internet servers, some of the most powerful in the world". "Then how come XANA didn't try to destroy Lyoko through those servers?" Jeremy questioned, and Damon had his response ready. "Before Franz Hopper disappeared into the internet, he locked up the servers, and no one knows the password to crack the code. Not even XANA".

"Still, that doesn't answer my question" Jeremy said, and Damon nodded. "The government has its own supercomputers, and we simply reassigned the digital coordinates of one to link to 'Lyoko'. The land never disappeared, and any supercomputer can be associated with it. However, without a supercomputer actively hosting it, it goes into a coma stage" Damon said.

After a short pause, Damon continued speaking. "When XANA hosted his Replicas, he had no online location to store them, so that when you and your friends destroyed the supercomputers, the digital worlds disappeared for good as well". Jeremy sat up straight when he heard that. "How do you know about that?" he asked Damon quickly. "That is why when XANA destroyed Lyoko's core, it didn't completely die out. He severed the Factory supercomputer's link with the world, but the world still existed." Jeremy was getting scared at the knowledge that Damon was presenting.

"Who the hell are you" Jeremy asked Damon quietly. "I was Franz's partner in the Project Carthage experiments, and now I am the man trying to bring his research back to the government." He said. "How do you know all this?" Jeremy asked Damon, who chuckled. "Were the government, we know everything, including things that technically don't exist because of a certain white dome of time, and don't pretend you don't know what I am talking about, Jeremy" Damon said with a smile spreading on his face.

Damon pulled out a walki-talki from his pocket, and turned on its microphone. "You there?" he said into the device, and heard a reply from the other end. "Turn it back to five minutes before we arrived" Damon told his accomplice, and put the walki-talki back into his pocket. Meanwhile, Jeremy was shaking in his seat. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked while stuttering. Damon knelt down to speak to Jeremy at eye level for two reasons. One, he wanted to make sure Jeremy was paying attention, and two, he wanted to witness what was about to happen up close.

"Because you are not going to remember it" Damon said through his grin. Jeremy sat there, trying to sort out that last line, thinking about what it could mean before asking about it, but he ran out of time, or rather, time was pulling him back. Damon watched Jeremy's pupils triple in size, and Jeremy started moving erratically in his seat. Damon observed Jeremy's face, which looked like it was going through pain. Everything was going according to plan. Damon looked out his window and saw the white flash of light meaning everything was working, and when he looked back down, Jeremy was lying on the floor, knocked out.

Damon pocketed the chip and walked out of Jeremy's room, knowing that his job was done. At least, this part of the job was done. Damon still had a lot of work left to do, but this part of the plan went easier than expected. He had the chip, and that was all he needed.

1983:

"Isn't she just adorable?" Franz asked Damon as he shared a picture of his daughter with him. "Just a couple years old and she is already starting to resemble her mother" Damon said. "By the way, how is Antea doing?" he asked. "She is fine, just taking it easy" Franz replied. Damon and Franz were in the Project Carthage labs, working on developing the hardware needed to complete the project. "She is cute" commented another project member. "Get back to work John" Franz said with a hint of frustration in his voice. "Honestly, you people are unmanageable at times" Damon commented, not hiding his disappointment.

"Damon, I need to talk to you" Franz said after John left. "Whats up?" Damon asked. "I need to show you something" Franz answered quietly. Damon nodded, and followed Franz into another room. "What's going on?" Damon asked Franz on their way to the new room. "I finished the RTTP prototype" Franz said with excitement. "Fantastic!" exclaimed Damon. "Have you tested it yet?" he asked. "Yes, of course" Franz said. "And it works well?" Damon continued with the questions. "Well, it works, but there are some unexpected clauses" Franz said with hesitation.

"Explain please" said Damon, whose hopes started slipping. "Well, for starters, the hardware itself needs to be powered by a supercomputer" Franz said. Damon thought it made sense; this time travel side project was revolutionary, and it would need a lot of technology behind it to power it. "I had to use the Project Carthage supercomputer for the tests" Franz explained. "What else did you find out?" Damon asked Franz. "People who have had direct contact with the hardware launching the time travel field would not be affected by it" Franz told Damon. "How come I was affected by the tests, as well as the other members of the project, and you weren't?" A confused Damon asked.

When Damon asked his question, Franz picked up a lamp that was lying on the ground of the room. "You have had contact with the supercomputer that powered the time travel field, but not what actually launched the field, which was this lamp" Franz said. "I thought the hardware needed to be built into the supercomputer in order to work" Damon said. "That would provide the best results, but I wanted to avoid getting noticed, so I installed some software into the supercomputer that would allow it to power this lamp from a remote location" Franz explained.

Damon inspected the lamp that Franz was holding closely. "What kind of radius does it have?" he asked. "A single lamp will affect the room that it is in, providing that it is a closed room, which is the only way I have tested it so far. However, if you have at least 3 of the lamps, you can connect them digitally and form a perimeter around an area, and apply a time travel field directly to the enclosed are only" Franz quickly said.

"Still though, a room is not a very large space, and if we want to keep doing tests, we can't do it here" Damon said, and Franz nodded his head in agreement. "If we had the space and resources, can we make a version of this on a larger scale?" Damon wondered aloud. "Theoretically of course, but in order to build a bigger RTTP device, we would need to build a separate supercomputer to power it" Franz said. "I know of a place where we can do it, and no one will know" Damon said eagerly. Franz raised an eyebrow to signal Damon to continue. "There is an abandoned warehouse down by the sewage plant" Damon said. "We can work on a supercomputer there for these separate experiments, unrelated with the Carthage project".

Present Day:

"What is going on?" "Who was that?" "What the hell is a 'Lyoko'?" were some of the questions coming from the crowd. "What just happened?" Odd asked his friends. The four of them, Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd, were still in their seats as confusion spread throughout the audience of the ceremony. "Ok everyone, lets get back to the graduation" Mr. Delmas said in to the microphone on the stage, but he was ignored as the conversations grew louder.

"Do any of you know what 'Zaia' is?" Ulrich asked his friends. Yumi and Odd shook their heads, but Aelita just sat there. "Aelita, what is going on?" Yumi asked her friend. She looked up towards her friends before she spoke. "We need to leave" she said, standing up, but Yumi pulled her back down. "Aelita, who were they?" Ulrich asked her. "Government officials" Aelita started to say, but before she could continue, she was interrupted by screams from the crowd.

Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd turned around to see more of the government officials storming the graduation scene. "Stay calm everyone" said one of the officials, who walked up to the microphone and pushed the principle out of the way. "This will only take a moment" he said. The Lyoko gang, sans Jeremy, watched as about a dozen government officials started digging small holes in the ground around the graduation ceremony's location. A few more officials arrived at the scene carrying miniature lamps.

"What are those?" came from the crowd, as the government workers planted the lamps into the ground. "Stay calm, everyone" said the official by the microphone, as he awaited the order to activate the lamps. Another official approached Jim as the others continued working. "What is the code to access wireless internet here?" he said. "I'd rather not talk about it" Jim replied sternly. The official pulled a taser gun from his belt and pointed it at Jim. "Answer the question" he said, and Jim replied out of fear. "Its Sissi, spelt s-i-s-s-i" he said while shaking.

"Its s-i-s-s-i" the official said into a walki-talki. The other officials started entering the code into the lamps. "They should now be calibrated now, all we need is the approval" the official added. Meanwhile, the crowd was getting scared at what was going on. "Settle down folks" the man with the microphone said. He then heard a beep from his own walki-talki and unclipped it from his belt.

He put the device to his ear and listened to his boss speak. "Yea, I'm here" he said in response to Damon's question. "Got it" he said to his boss's request, and put the walki-talki away. "5 minutes prior to our arrival" The official said into the microphone. There were mumblings from the crowd, and people were staring to get fed up. "What is that supposed to mean?" an angry Mrs. Hertz said, standing up. She was quickly followed by more of the staff. "Why did you have to interrupt my graduation?" Sissi whined from the crowd. The official just smiled, knowing that all these problems were about to disappear, or rather, never even happen. He walked off the stage, and motioned for the rest of his partners to do so as well.

Ulrich stood up and attempted to follow the main official at the scene. "What the hell is Zaia?" he asked the man aloud. The man turned around, pulled out his taser and sent 10,000 volts into Ulrich's body. "Relax, you will feel better in a moment" the official said. Once the zone was cleared of the government workers, he unclipped a remote control from his belt, and pressed the single button on the device.

From the four corners of the graduation scene came a bright light that filled the graduation scene. A few moments later, the lights were gone, the riot was over, everyone was back in their seats, and the graduation ceremony was continuing uninterrupted. No one showed any signs of confusion or discomfort. In fact, no one remembered what just happened, because no one in the crowd experienced it, except for those fortunate enough to have previous exposure to time travel.

"What just happened?" Ulrich said under his breath. He and his friends were sitting in shock at the events that just unfolded. "Nothing seemingly" said Yumi. "How observant. What do you think Aelita?" Odd asked, but the angel of Lyoko was not paying attention. She was looking to the man sitting next to her, who appeared out of nowhere. "Jeremy?" she said quietly. "Yea Aelita?" Jeremy asked her. "Something wrong? It sounds cliché, but you look like you saw a ghost."


	5. Episode 5

Episode 5: "After the Ceremony"

"Jeremy, what the hell just happened?" asked a horrified Yumi. Jeremy just appeared out of nowhere after the flash. This would not have been surprising if Jeremy was not taken away by a government official 10 minutes ago. "What are you talking about?" Jeremy asked curiously, without any knowledge of what the others were talking about. "The flash Jeremy, what was that flash about?" Odd asked, but Jeremy still didn't understand.

Any other group of kids would be screaming their brains out after this, but these kids were used to the unusual. Ulrich looked up into the sky, looking for something to explain what just happened. After searching the skies, he noticed a bird appear out of nowhere and disappear into nowhere after flying over the graduation ceremony location. "Something is wrong guys" Ulrich said, but the others already knew.

"I think you are all just paranoid about graduating" Jeremy said. "Especially you Yumi. You have been waiting for this for an additional year. Paranoia would make sense, your all just stressed" Jeremy calmly said. "Jeremy" Aelita spoke quietly after staying silent. "The Project Zaia people were here" she said. Jeremy's eyes widened when he heard her say that, and suddenly what the others were saying started to click with him. "We will talk about this after the ceremony" Jeremy said, and he stayed silent after that.

Odd checked his watch, which read "2:37". "Wake me up when it's over" Odd said as he took a nap. The ceremony was nearing its end, so the others did not bother to keep him up. The teachers and administration were currently giving their speeches about the previous year, nothing really important. Outside of Odd though, the group was not able to relax. They knew something was wrong, and the others were stirred by the mention of "Project Zaia". Ulrich tried asking Jeremy about it, but Jeremy just told him to ask again later.

After talking, more talking, and enough talking that one would want to listen to Celine Dion rather than more of Principle Delmas talking, the ceremony ended. Everyone got up and started running to their parents. There was emotion in the air as the senior class was finally free of Kadic. After a good half hour of "I am so proud of you", the gang regrouped by their seats as people started to leave the ceremony scene.

"Lets head to my room; I will explain what I can" Jeremy whispered to his friends. The 5 of them walked through the crowd, weaving through the hugs and congratulations taking place. Before they left the area however, Jeremy stuck out his arm and stopped the others. "What's wrong?" Aelita asked, and Jeremy pointed to the ground. Engraved in the grass was a charred line. It was burned into the ground, and was only noticeable if you knew to look for it, which Jeremy knew to do.

"Odd, what time is it?" Jeremy asked his friend. "3:19" Odd said. "Where was I when you saw the flash?" Jeremy questioned. "Oh, so you do remember" Odd commented stupidly. "No I don't" Jeremy said. "But I think I know what's going on. Where was I?" he asked. "I assume you were in your room, that's where it looked like the government guy was taking you" Ulrich said, and Jeremy nodded. "Go there" Jeremy told them. Without saying anything else, Jeremy walked over the line, and disappeared into the empty air.

The others were stunned at what just happened. Jeremy just disappeared into nothingness. "Aelita, where is Jeremy?" a shocked Yumi asked, but Aelita had no answer. She just stared at the spot where Jeremy was just standing for a couple moments before speaking. "He said to go to his room, I think we should go there" Aelita said, and she led the others over the line in the ground.

As they passed over the line, they each felt a little dizzy, as their bodies were readjusting to a change in time. Odd checked his watch out of confusion, and noticed something radically different. "3:42" Odd said. "Did you say something?" Ulrich asked Odd. "Its 3:42, time just jumped" Odd said. The gang stood there and contemplated what Odd just said, and Jeremy's disappearance. "Lets not waste time" Aelita said slowly to break the silence, and they all walked towards Jeremy's room.

January, 2008 (1 year, 4 months prior):

Damon looked across the table, at his employees sitting in front of him. He smiled, as he was glad to be back in a position of power. "Its time for the mission briefing" Damon said nervously. He might have known what his goals and priorities were, but he was still nervous when it comes to dealing with a group. He was still shaken after his pervious dealings with Franz.

"About a year ago, technology on the P17Z military space station was severely damaged" Damon told the group. "How sir?" asked one of the members at the table. Damon thought about how much he should say while staying believable. "The supercomputer crashed" Damon said after much thought. "And it's our duty to repair it". The same man who first asked why asked again. "Because the technology involving that supercomputer, and the contents of the supercomputer itself, are too important for the French government to let go of" Damon said.

"There was a government operation years ago called 'Carthage', and through a few unfortunate events, the information from that project was lost. Fortunally, a copy of the data associated with that project is located inside that supercomputer, and we need to retrieve that data." Damon said after some hesitation. He just wanted to give them enough info to get this group of idiots to set off his plan.

"How are we going to repair the supercomputer?" another member of the team asked. "Well, for starters, its going to be you all, not me. I am staying down here so I can coordinate the supercomputer up in space with computers down here. We are going to create a link this time to be able to control the supercomputer from Earth" Damon spilled out. "Though to answer your question, you will be using this" Damon said as he pulled out an RTTP lamp.

"This is what is known internally as a TTL, or "time travel lamp", and by internal, I mean I just made it up" Damon said. "I can operate this remotely from Earth, all I need you to do is place it near the supercomputer in the space station" he said. The faces of the other people on the team were blank. "Time…. travel?" one of the other members asked with doubt is his voice. "Is this a prank?" asked another member. Damon sighed, knowing that this would happen.

"Just put the lamp there, and when you do so, let me know via radio, and I will give you further instructions. It's not that hard" Damon said. "Now, you will be flying up there on the "Hopper" prototype shuttle. "I thought that project was cancelled" asked one of the table members. "It was" Damon said. "The prototype is still useable. The rest of the project just wasn't worth the funding" he explained.

"Perhaps the most important part of this mission will be the hardware you install in the supercomputer" Damon said. The rest of the group was confused as Damon continued to talk. "Once the TTL is done its job, you are to dismantle it, and plug that motherboard into the supercomputer. You will find plenty of empty places to install the motherboard into" Damon instructed.

The mission, in a nutshell, went relatively well. Although the crew did not know what they were doing half the time, everything went as planned. And of course, the crew being confused was part of the plan. The more the team was confused, the more manageable they would be, and the easier Damon could break the team down. Damon did his part from earth, working the RTTP sequence, effectively repairing the supercomputer.

Damon knew perfectly well why the supercomputer was damaged to begin with. He had been tracking the reasons for the past couple of years, and now it was time to put his plan in motion. Step 1 was complete, but there was still a lot of planning that needed to be done, trust to be earned, and people to manipulate before all was said and done.

When the RTTP technology was installed into the supercomputer and the crew began their return trip home, wondering why they were doing this crazy crap, but then remembering their lump salary, Damon was working on the government lab computers back on Earth, and linking them to the supercomputer as he said he would. However, there was more to this part of the plan than simply linking his computer to the supercomputer. He was linking the supercomputer to the land known as Lyoko.

Since the supercomputer in the factory was shut down by those insane children, Lyoko was inactive and idle, but it still existed. It was imperative that Lyoko was reactivated from another supercomputer, as when the leader of the kids, Jeremy, shut down Lyoko months ago, he changed the password for the elevator to enter the factory, so that no one could access the supercomputer again.

Damon navigated through the supercomputer's software once the linking was complete, and found the link between the digital world it hosted and the internet. Damon knew where Lyoko lied on the internet. It was not coordinates; it was a server, as it was hosted on the government servers. Damon entered the FTP address into a command bar, and after a few moments, the space station supercomputer became the new host of Lyoko.

Damon sat back in his chair and relaxed, as the pieces of his plan were set in motion. "This will all be over soon, old friend" he said as he picked up a picture of Franz from his desk. Damon started to chuckle as he put the picture back down. With Lyoko now reactivated and under his control, he could begin to reclaim the information that Franz stole from the government, but of course, there was more to the plan. Damon had the supercomputer activated and armed with RTTP technology, and that's all he needed for now.


	6. Episode 6

This is going to be the final chapter for about a week or so, so enjoy it! And please, please write reviews! I know your reading this story, but I want to know if people are interested in me continuing, so please click on that review button at the bottom!

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Episode 6: "The Signal"

"Wake up Jeremy" Aelita said furiously, shaking him by his clothing. Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi made the trip up to Jeremy's room to see him lying unconscious on the floor, and they have been trying to wake him up for the past 5 minutes. "Come on" Aelita said, as if Jeremy was listening. The others stood over her watching as she tried to wake up her boyfriend. After a few moments, Jeremy's eyes shot open and he became fully aware of his surroundings.

"When am I?" Jeremy asked quickly. "Um, what do you mean by when?" Odd asked. "The time" Jeremy panted, as if he just ran a marathon. "When am I?" he repeated. Odd checked his watch. "4:02 in the afternoon" he said. Jeremy got up from the ground, struggling a little bit, and sat in his chair. "Are you ok?" Aelita asked him, concerned about the way Jeremy was asking. "I am fine. A little shaken, but fine" Jeremy said. "What happened to you?" Yumi asked him. Jeremy hesitated before shaking his head. "Nothing…. nothing" he said.

The others knew that something must have happened, as Jeremy opened up a new document on his computer and started logging down numbers. "4:05 minus 3:19 is 3:42" he said to himself while plugging the numbers into his keypad. "23 minutes" he said to himself and mulled the number over in his head. He resumed typing after he did some equations in his head. '4:28' he typed before he saved his document.

"What are you doing Jeremy?" Aelita asked, as she got concerned at his strange behavior. "Nothing to be concerned about" Jeremy said. Before the others could respond though, he changed the topic. "We need to go to the factory" he said, astonishing the others. "Jeremy, what was the last thing you remember?" Ulrich said, trying to keep the topic on making sure Jeremy was ok. "Leaving the graduation ceremony" Jeremy said hastily. "And I remember you all telling me about government officials and a chip" he said. "Which is why we need to go to the factory".

"What is so important about the factory?" Yumi cut in. "I think you should see the nurse after what just happened. I mean, you literally disappeared!" she exclaimed, but Jeremy was starting to get angry. "I am ok, that is all that matters, and as for the factory, I know how we can track down the chip that the government took". "What is so important about the chip?" Ulrich asked. Jeremy looked at Aelita, and motioned to her to answer the question. "It is the chip that XANA put in the pendent to possess me years ago" she said.

"Not only does it contain the tools to possess someone" Jeremy started. "It contains the full XANA virus, among other features. Any piece of technology radiates a signal, and every XANA specter used to possess people opens their subconscious up to the signal, that's how he can control them. Aelita could not be possessed because of her strong ties to Lyoko, so he linked her to the chip directly, allowing him to possess her without a specter or the signal needed." He said in a rush. "I can use the supercomputer to track down the location of the chip" Jeremy finished, gasping for breath after speaking so fast. "But why is the chip so important? Why do we need it?" Odd asked. Jeremy turned around and walked up to Odd, and stared him right in the eyes. "If that chip gets into the wrong hands, XANA can be unleashed again" Jeremy said.

1 sewage trip and 20 minutes later, the gang arrived at the elevator. "Didn't you put a random code in to operate the elevator so no one could access the supercomputer?" Aelita asked Jeremy when they reached the elevator doors. Jeremy shrugged off the comment saying "Doesn't mean I don't know it" as he entered the code to reactivate the elevator. 3 minutes later, they were all down in the supercomputer room, and Jeremy rushed to flip the switch. "Why are you in a rush?" Aelita asked Jeremy, but he didn't reply. "Let's go up to the interface room" Jeremy said, but the others were getting annoyed. They knew Jeremy was keeping something from them.

"Jeremy, what the hell is going on with you?" Yumi asked him sternly. "I can explain to you later if there is time" Jeremy replied. This might not seem like much, but it confirmed to the others that something was going on. "Its imperative that I get you digitalized before something happens to me" Jeremy said, and he pushed past Yumi and entered the elevator. "Come on" Jeremy said. It was not a question, it was a command.

Jeremy and the gang traveled up. Jeremy dropped them off in the scanner room, and Jeremy went towards the computer interface. "I am using the supercomputer to locate the source of the XANA signal, which would be the chip in this case" Jeremy told the others as they waited for further instructions. "And….. I have located it in a government building" he said. "I am going to send you there" he said. "What, right now?" Odd asked, surprised that they were going to get back in action so soon. "Now" Jeremy replied.

While looking through the source of the XANA signal being emitted by the computer chip, Jeremy came across something interesting, though not surprising. He located a second supercomputer powering Lyoko, and the one that the Lyoko gang previously destroyed. It was the computer that hosted the Carthage replica in space, on the government space station. It was this supercomputer that was hosting the RTTP technology that was used just hours ago at Kadic.

"Hey guys, remember that space station supercomputer that housed the Carthage replica?" Jeremy asked the others, who were still waiting in the scanner room. He heard them all say yes. "The government repaired it, and turned it into another host for Lyoko, and equipped it with RTTP technology, which powered the time reversion on campus" he said. "Hold on, I thought you couldn't remember what happened" Ulrich said, getting suspicious again. "I can't, but I know it happened" Jeremy said. "Anyways, I have perfected the materialization codes, so I am going to directly materialize you to the location of the chip, full with Lyoko gear, without going through Lyoko." He said, typing commands into the computer interface.

One by one, the gang stepped into the scanners, still not fully understanding what was going in, and one by one, they disappeared from the factory, repapering in a government facility about 15 miles out of town. While he was materializing them though, Jeremy searched the computer for another file, a certain document created by Franz Hopper. Although the others could not see him, Jeremy was starting to get nervous, and started checking the computer's clock. '4:48' the clock showed when Jeremy went to look at it. Jeremy rummaged through the computer's documents until he found what he was looking for: A document labeled "TD".

Jeremy quickly opened up the file, and read it as quickly as he could, while keeping his eye on the clock and talking to his friends, now in the government facility. "Ok guys, I don't know where you are, I can't see where you are, but you need to find the computer chip. Check the computer labs" he told them quickly. "What should we do when we find it?" he heard Yumi asked. "Destroy it" Jeremy said sternly while reading through the document.

"Every time a displacement occurs, it will be as long as the time since the previous displacement, and the time between each displacement will be twice as long as the previous displacement" Jeremy read from the document. His heart jumped a couple of beats as he looked at the clock, and it said '4:50'. He did the math, and he had about a minute left. "The Project Zaia officials intend on releasing the contents of that chip into their network, and doing so could create hell for all of us" Jeremy said, although he had to force out those last few words. When he finished his sentence, he looked at the clock, which moved up to '4:51'.

Jeremy's body starting to spasm, and his pupils grew to fill his iris. He fidgeted for a few moments, and after the tension grew in his body, he collapsed onto the keyboard. His body laid there, unconscious, Jeremy's eyes open and staring into nothingness. "Jeremy, are you there?" came from his headphones, but Jeremy did not reply. There was no one to reply. "Jeremy!" came Aelita's screaming voice through the headphones.

**Winter of 1987:**

"Where….. where am I?" came the soft voice of Antea Hopper. She was waking up after being drugged with a days earlier. "Where do you think you are?" came a voice from the other side of the small room she was locked in. "Please, what do you want?" she said, tears starting to run from her eyes. "You are in a government facility. We have brought you here for questioning" came the voice. "What did I do?" she asked through her sobs. "Its not about you, it's about your husband" said the voice.

Henri Saunders was the head of internal affairs for this division of the French government. It was not the best job in the world, though he was the best man for it. Henri walked forward from his hiding spot in the room to come to Antea Hopper face to face. "What do you know about your husband's job?" Henri asked her, attempting to maintain eye contact with the women. Keeping eye contact was one of his favorite ways to break a person down. "N-n-not much" she said, still in tears. Henri nodded, before offering Antea a tissue and a seat. Once she did both, Henri continued. It was his belief that interrogation mixed with kindness was a very powerful combination.

"We have reason to believe that Franz is building a weapon against us" Henri told her, and pulled out some documents. "Some of our technology has been going missing as of late, and he is the prime suspect. Would you know anything about this?" he asked Antea, raising an eyebrow, but she just shook her head, and Henri nodded again. "We know he is keeping something a secret from us, we just need to find out what" he said. He knew it was not very long before he made her crack. He was placing the seeds of terror and doubt into her, and he could see it on her face that she was on the verge of breaking.

"I really don't know what your t-t-talking about-t" she stuttered through her tears. Her eyes were read, her mouth was trembling, her body was shaking, and her face soaked with tears at this point, and Henri knew he was getting close to her breaking point. "What do you know about?" he asked her calmly, and smiled when he saw the look on her face. She cracked.

"Where is my daughter?" Antea cried out. "I w-w-ant to see-e my daughter" she said, her face contorted. "You will see her again, as long as you co-operate with us" Henri said with a smile. He was a jackass to others and he knew it. He loved causing pain to others, it made him feel complete. He was pretty much paid to be a bully to people. Thankfully, he had enough experience from being bullied back in school to know how to do it to others, and perhaps it was the being bullied years ago that caused him to be cruel to others. Regardless of the reasons, he was content with his job. It made him feel good.

"We found this note on the ground the other day, we believe it's from Franz" he said, pulling out another document. He pulled out a pair of fake reading glasses. He did not need them, and they were fake, but the effect of using them only made who ever was being interrogated even more unearthed. "Don't forget to copy the contents of project Carthage onto the new supercomputer" Henri read from the note. "What does he mean by 'supercomputer'?" he asked her, remaining calm.

"I… I want" Antea started to say, but she could not form sentences under the pressure. "What do you want?" Henri asked her, half sincere, half mocking her. "I w-w-ant to t-talk to my-y-y lawyer" she stuttered. Henri's smile grew, and he started to laugh. "Lawyers!" he exclaimed through his laughs. "You think you have rights here?" he said, standing up and walking over towards her. "You have no rights" he said, staring into her eyes, the smile disappearing from his face. "And until you tell us what you know, you won't have any" he said. He then turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Antea locked up in a puddle of her own tears.

Antea remained locked up for 5 days, although Henri did not interrogate her any more over that time period. He was waiting for her wanting to be reunited with her family to make her crack further and tell him what she knows. Each day, she was fed meals, given something to read, provided medical care and a good shelter, but Henri made sure she was on the verge of spilling everything she knew to him at the end of each day.

Her fifth day awake in the room, her seventh day since being captured and drugged to sleep in front of her house, husband, and daughter, an intervention came along in the form of Franz Hopper. He barged into the part of the building that she was being housed in. "Give me my wife back" he said, walking up to Henri. Henri barely realized that Franz was standing behind him when Franz pinned Henri to the wall. "You had no right to take her" Franz said. "Oh, but I did" Henri said with his creepy smile. Franz let Henri go, and told him to explain.

"We know your building something, something we don't know about" Henri said. "The rest of internal affairs wanted to release your wife after we realized she didn't know anything, but I kept her, knowing you would eventually turn up, and here you are" he said with a chuckle. "You kidnapped my wife, and I am taking her back" Franz said, his voice full of determination.

"No, you can't. At the moment, she belongs to the government" Henri said, shocking Franz. "She is a person, you can't own her" Franz said with anger. "We're the government, we can do whatever the hell we want" Henri said. Franz stood there, looking at Henri. "We can however, trade her" Henri commented. "You're going to treat my wife like a business transaction?" Franz said slowly, trying to comprehend the situation. "Exactly" Henri said happily. "We will return your wife, but we want whatever it is you have been building behind our backs" he continued. "You can remain in charge of whatever it was you are building, but the technology and resources for the project are going to become part of the government" he finished.

"The other option is, of course, you don't give us control of your technology, and we label you a traitor of the nation and have you jailed" Henri said. "Your choice". Franz knew he did not have a choice though. "You win" Franz said to Henri, with disgust in his voice, but Henri didn't care about how Franz felt. What he did care about was the bonus he would be getting for this job. He pulled out his walki-talki. "Release her" he told the other internal affairs officials.

"Honey, are you ok?" Franz asked Antea when he first saw her. She ran over to him and embraced him, her body shaking with fear. "I thought I would never see you again" she said, her eyes filling with tears again. "They were questioning me, something about computers and t-treason and…" she said, sobs taking over once again. "Its ok, it's alright" Franz said calmly, hugging her tightly. "Everything is ok now, we are going home" he said. "How is Aelita?" she said through her tears. The hope of seeing her daughter again was the only thing that kept her determined to survive the events of the past few days. "She misses you, she thought she would never see you again" Franz said as he walked Antea out to his car.

Once he left the building, he turned around to see Henri smiling through the glass. Henri was just glad that he was getting a bonus from this. His higher ups said that this was a pretty big case, and he had the backing of the government to do whatever it would take to take control of whatever Franz was secretly working on. All in all, it was a pretty good week for him.


	7. Episode 7

Well, it has been 2 weeks since the last chapter. I estimated the break would only be a week, but I had other stuff to do. Anyways, I have planned out the rest of the chapters for the most part, there will be a total of 13 episodes by the time this is over, and that will be it.

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Episode 7: "Temporal Displacement"

1986:

"Is the video camera set up?" Franz shouted to Damon, who yelled back 'yes'. Both of them were on the ground floor of the abandoned factory, setting up their first time travel experiment. Franz knelt down and activated one of the four time travel lamps set up on the ground. Franz made sure it was lined up with the others to form a square on the ground, and flipped the switch to turn on the lamp. On the other side of the floor, Damon was activating a lamp, and they both walked to the other two lamps and activated them.

Damon and Franz regrouped near the elevator, where Damon turned on the camera and started recording. "Hello, my name is Franz Hopper, and I, along with my partner Damon Dunbar, are keeping a video log of our experimental time travel technology" Franz said into the camera. "We are stationed in an abandoned factory, located near the local academy" he continued to say. "The prototype TT lamps are set up on the floor of the factory, about 5 floors above the computer we built to power the technology" Franz continued to say into the camera.

"Damon has personally been scanned into the computer, but I have not, which will play a crucial role in today's experiment. The time travel only affects those who are not associated with the supercomputer powering the field. Damon will stand inside the perimeter created by the four prototype lamps, and we will reverse time to test the results" Franz finished before moving the camera into a position closer to the lamps, as Damon set up the lamps to send time back 1 minute when activated.

Damon positioned himself at the center of the area covered by the lamps and Franz entered the perimeter to make sure everything was set up ok. "Looks fine to me" Franz said before walking out of the perimeter and towards the control panel. Months of research, building, and stealing resources from the government were about to pay off. "Ready?" Franz called out to Damon, who replied with a thumbs-up. Franz looked down and without hesitating activated the lamps, which were set to reverse time within the perimeter by a minute.

A bright flash originated from the lamps and spread throughout the factory floor, although they were focused to do their job only in the perimeter. When the flash died, Damon looked for Franz, only to see his partner's body lying unconsciously on the ground. "Franz!" Damon exclaimed aloud. "What?" came the voice of his partner from behind him? Damon turned around quickly to see Franz standing behind him. "Are you ready to activate the lamps?" Franz asked, as if nothing happened.

Damon trembled greatly in shock. "Are you ok?" Franz asked his partner with sincere concern. Damon's shaking hand pointed to the unconscious body of Franz hopper lying on the ground outside of the perimeter. "This is a conundrum" Franz said as his eyes widened in shock. The both of them rushed over to Franz's body, both exiting the perimeter, and the conscious Franz disappearing in doing so.

"Franz" a scared Damon quietly said, looking in the direction where Franz was just standing and talking. "I'm over here" came Franz's voice from the ground. Damon turned around to see Franz, the original one, the one who fainted, standing back up. "What just happened?" Damon asked Franz as his heart skipped a couple of beats. "Well, I was about to activate the lamps, then you pointed out my body lying on the ground, and now I am in that body" Franz said nonchalantly. "What did you see?" he asked. "Well, uh" Damon started to say as he mulled over the past couple minutes in his mind. "A couple minutes ago, we were setting up the lamps from inside the perimeter, and then you walked out and activated the lamps. Time was reversed back a minute, when you were…" Damon said, his thoughts trailing off in the end. "When I was in the perimeter" Franz finished Damon's statement.

Franz quickly checked his watch. He had a theory about what just happened, but as he tried to open his mouth to talk, his body started to undergo pain and spasms. "Are you ok Franz?" Damon asked as he watched his partner's body start to shake, but he got no response. Damon suddenly ran up to Franz. "Are you having a seizure? Heart attack? Talk to me Franz" Damon quickly said, but there was no use. Franz stared at Damon with his mouth trembling, before his eyes lost their focus and closed.

"Franz!" A now scared Damon shouted. He dropped Franz's body on the ground and ran towards the first aid kit. Franz and Damon made sure they were prepared for any medical issue, as needing to have an ambulance come to the factory would result in the government finding out about their project. Damon pulled out a defibrillator and ran back towards Franz. He wasted no time in attaching the pads to Franz's body. He clicked the button and sent electricity though Franz's body to no avail. He tried again, with the same result. 'One more time' Damon thought to himself, and he shocked Franz's body a final time, and nothing happened.

Damon tore the pads off of Franz and ran back towards the first aid area, looking for something else to help Franz. "Come on, come on" Damon said to himself, when he heard a scream behind him. Damon turned around to see Franz gasping for air on the ground. "Franz, are you ok?" Damon asked as he ran over to his partner. "Damon, listen to me" Franz said as he got up. "When I activated the RTTP, I was outside the perimeter, and reversed time to when I was in it, creating a displacement" Franz said. "Slow down, wait a moment" Damon said, but Franz ignored him.

"Until I am scanned into the supercomputer, what just happened is going to happen every so often" Franz continued. "Twice as often as the previous time" Franz said just as Damon was going to ask how long. "And the first time was 1 minute. The amount of time between each displacement is twice as long as the displacement I would have just come out of" Franz said, continuing to answer Damon's unasked questions. "I have already experienced your questions, so I know how to answer them" Franz added, to stop Damon from wondering what the hell was going on. It didn't help though.

"What the hell is going on Franz?" Damon asked as his blood pressure rose. "I fainted for 2 minutes" Franz said, talking at a normal pace now. "During those two minutes, I experienced 2 minutes in the future, starting 2 minutes after I would wake up" Franz said. "From the moment I just got up, I had 4 minutes to stop it from happening again. Now I have about 2" Franz said. "Help me fix myself, I will explain the rest to you later" Franz said. "How" Damon started to ask, but Franz cut him off. "I need to be scanned into the supercomputer that powers the lamps, which in this case is the one we have been building floors below us" Franz said.

* * *

Present time:

"Wow" was all Odd could say after he materialized in the government facility. The building's interior was sleek and white, very modern looking. "Agreed" said Ulrich, who was surveying the area with Yumi as they waited for Jeremy to transfer Aelita. "This looks threatening" said Aelita after she appeared in the hall. "Ok guys" came Jeremy's voice. He was not speaking over any intercom system, the Lyoko warriors actually heard him in their heads. "I don't know where you are, I can't see where you are, but you need to find the computer chip. Check the computer labs" he told them quickly. "What should we do when we find it?" Yumi asked him. "Destroy it" Jeremy said sternly.

"The Project Zaia officials intend on releasing the contents of that chip into their network, and doing so could create hell for all of us" Jeremy said, though it sounded like he was having a hard time speaking near the end. "What will happen if they release the chip?" Yumi asked, waiting for Jeremy's response, but it didn't come. "Jeremy, did you hear my question?" Yumi asked him, a little concerned by the silence. "Jeremy, are you there?" Ulrich asked. "Yo, Einstein!" Odd called out, but there was no response from the other end. "Jeremy!" Aelita screamed, hoping for a response from him. There was a response, but instead of coming from Jeremy, it came from sirens. "Were on our own" Ulrich said, pulling out a katana.

* * *

Also in the present day:

"This way" Damon called out to the operatives surrounding him. Damon was leading the military operatives through the sewers to their destination. All the operatives knew was that there was a person in there who, by reactivating military technology, was now an enemy of the French government. What they didn't know was that the person was a kid, and the only reason he was near the military technology was because of the man leading the operatives. Damon smiled again as he observed his plan unfolding. Once Jeremy was apprehended, it was smooth sailing for him.

Damon led his team through the entrance to the bridge which allowed them to access the abounded factory building. "In there is an enemy to our nation" Damon said to the crew. "By my calculations, he should be passed out on the computer interface, making this mission easy for you" He continued to say as he paced through the operatives. "I am not taking any questions, your assignment is quite simple: Retrieve the man, and bring him back to the project Zaia facilities" he finished. That's all he needed to say to them. One by one, they loaded their weapons and stormed into the building, with an easy task ahead of them. It wasn't long before one of the operatives started radioing to Damon. "We have apprehended the, er, you know he is a child, right?" the operative questioned. "It does not matter, bring him back to the base" Damon said with a smile.


	8. Episode 8

Come on people, I know you are reading this story, if you want to show your appreciation, the best way to do so is with the "Review" option at the bottom! Anyways, this is the biggest and perhaps the most important chapter yet.

* * *

Chapter 8: "Answers"

Jeremy's eyes flipped open quickly, and he started panting for air. It was only after his heart rate returned to normal that he realized that he had no idea where he was. He looked around to see that he was in a small white tiled room with no windows and a single door. In front of him were an empty chair, a table, and a television screen. Jeremy tried to move, but he discovered that his arms and legs were bound to the chair he was sitting on. Jeremy fidgeted in his seat, trying to break free from the bonds; even though he couldn't the last time he tried, though to be fair, the last time he tried never technically happened.

"Give it a rest kid" came a voice from inside the room. Jeremy looked around for the source of the audio, but it did not sound like it had a single source. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere. "I know that's you Damon, no need to hide behind your technology" Jeremy said dryly. Almost immediately after Jeremy finished the sentence, Damon entered the room through the door. "Are you enjoying your travels through time?" Damon asked Jeremy as he sat down in the chair on the other side of the table.

"How the hell do you know?" Jeremy asked Damon. "You should already know the answer to that Jeremy; didn't you already have this conversation with me before you woke up?" Damon asked curiously. Damon acted like he knew everything, and for the most part he did, but as he never experienced the displacements himself, he didn't know everything about them. Part of the reasoning for this interrogation was so he could conduct some more research on the displacements. "When I experience future time in a displacement," Jeremy started after some hesitation. "What I see is only based off of the groundwork for those events which take place over the time I am unconscious. The same scenario will only repeat if I act differently to change the groundwork once I wake up" he said.

"So in your displacement, what happened when your future vision started?" Damon asked the child genius. "You started immediately by asking me what I knew about Franz Hopper. When you entered this time, you saw me fidgeting, resulting in your comment, and in the entire conversation changing" Jeremy said. Damon mulled these comments over in his head before moving on. "So, what do you know about Franz Hopper?" Damon said, but Jeremy was prepared to turn this interrogation around for his advantage. "What do you know about temporal displacements?" Jeremy replied. Damon smiled, not because of the question, but because he saw a little bit of himself in Jeremy. Jeremy knew how to manipulate the conversation.

"Very well then" Damon said. "Do you remember how your friends told you about me and my team invading your school's graduation?" Damon asked. "I don't remember it, but I remember them telling me about it" Jeremy replied. One of the reasons that Jeremy was co-operating was because he wanted to find out how to stop these trips to the future. "That's because we did a perimeter time reversion on the grounds of the graduation, and you were not within the perimeter at that time, and time was being reversed to when you were in the perimeter. Because of that, your mind was cut between two different times, resulting in the start of these displacements" Damon told Jeremy.

"How do you know all of this?" Jeremy asked. He knew that the reason why, because this was one of the questions that popped up in the time displacement version of these events, but he wanted to hear the answer again, in case Damon gave new info. "Because I witnessed Franz go through the same thing" Damon said, which Jeremy already heard. "Franz told me that the only way to stop the displacements was to scan the person going through the displacements into the supercomputer that powered the time travel technology" Damon said, and that was new information to Jeremy.

Jeremy already knew that the space station that XANA used against the gang was reactivated and partially hosting Lyoko and Jeremy was able to add 2 and 2 together to realize the solution to his problem. He would need to scan himself into the space station supercomputer. Before that however, Jeremy needed to escape his current situation.

"So Damon, why are you so interested in the chip that you took?" Jeremy asked Damon apprehensively. "Franz Hopper stole government technology, we are simply retrieving it" Damon said. "Franz invented the chip" Jeremy informed his interrogator. "Yes, he did" said a now grinning Damon. "But he stole the resources used to build Lyoko and the supercomputer" Damon said. "What does that have to do with the chip?" Jeremy questioned. "When you shut down Lyoko, you locked up the elevator access with a random pass code so that no one can enter it. The reason we took the chip was because we knew it would lead to you reopening the access to the supercomputer so that we could retain the technology" Damon lied. Jeremy could see through what Damon was saying, but he did not object. "Incidentally, how did you remember the code to reopen the elevator?" Damon asked. "I just saw myself using it in a displacement vision" Jeremy said while shrugging.

It was at this point in the interrogation that Damon realized that he was not as authoritative as he needed to be, and he was not close to getting the answers that he wanted from talking to Jeremy. "Do you know why you are here?" Damon asked Jeremy, attempting to redirect what was now just a conversation. "No, nor do I really care" Jeremy said smugly, which was uncommon for him. "Explain" Damon said simply, and Jeremy smiled himself. "I know your not going to do anything to me; you can't do anything to me. I have not committed a crime, I am not here legally, and I will be out of here sooner than later" Jeremy said.

Damon was puzzled at how relaxed Jeremy was. "How can you be so confident when you are out of your element? You have a severe brain condition and you're out of your comfort zone" Damon said. "I brought my comfort zone with me" Jeremy said as leaned over the table. Any confusion that Damon had was squashed by the sudden alarms and sirens going of throughout the facility. The situation suddenly became clear to Damon, who grinned. "Their here, aren't they?" Damon asked as red lights flashed throughout the room. "Surprised?" Jeremy said, thinking he turned the tables on Damon. "Quite the contrary actually" Damon said, surprising Jeremy. "Thank you for leading them to me" Damon said as he stood up from his chair, and opened the door to the room.

"Wait, are you just going to leave me here?" Jeremy wondered nervously. "Did you expect otherwise?" Damon said with a chuckle. "I have a severe metaphysical condition" Jeremy said horrified. "You can't just leave me here" he said. "Don't worry" Damon replied as he checked his watch. "By my count, you won't be with us for much longer anyways. Look, your nose is starting to bleed" Damon noted, pointing to the drops forming under Jeremy's nostrils.

Jeremy started shaking in his seat, and he knew what was happening. "Please help me" he said as he started to loose his senses. Damon thought for a moment about what he should do, before walking back to his chair and taking a seat in front of Jeremy. He rested his arms on the table as he stared at Jeremy's now sweating face. "Help me Damon" Jeremy barely said, his body shaking violently, still bound to the chair. "I am helping" Damon said sarcastically. "I chained you to the chair so that when you spasm, you don't harm yourself. I am also keeping you company" he replied dryly to Jeremy's horror. To Damon, the look on Jeremy's face was priceless as Jeremy slipped into unconsciousness. "Good show, good show" Damon said to himself as he stood up, walked out of the room, and closed the door.

* * *

June 4, 1994, Day 2,547:

Henri was sitting in his office, completing the worst part of his job: The paperwork. Still, paperwork was necessary in order to receive his promotion. Due to his successful resume, Henri was being given a promotion to chief of security for the French government. While signing his signature for the hundredth time, he heard some static come from a walki-talki stationed on his desk "Calling all security, initiate code red lockdown, we have an intruder". Henri stared at the device, processing what he heard slowly. He slowly picked up the device and held down the talk button. "Is this a test?" he asked, unsure of how to react to what he heard.

Henri did not get a reply, but what he did hear were footsteps running down the hall. Quickly, he put the walki talki in his pocket, loaded up a pistol, and exited his office. He looked down the hall to see security forces loading and aiming their guns, though he could not tell what they were aiming at. "Henri!" he heard from behind him. Henri immediately turned around and pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the person behind him. "Damon, you scared me" Henri told his associate as he lowered his weapon. "Come with me" Damon said quickly, and Henri followed Damon down the opposite end of the hall without question.

"Damon, what the hell is going on?" Henri asked Damon. "Franz has broken into the building" Damon said, looking around the corner of the hall before continuing. "How the hell did he do that?" a horrified Henri asked. "Its not important how he got in, what's important is what he is going to do". "And what would that be?" Henri questioned. Damon did not reply, and he did not say another word until he led Henri into one of the building's safe rooms.

"I need you to help us" Damon said quickly, wasting no time in getting to the point. "Who is 'us'?" A confused Henri asked. "Myself and Franz" Damon answered hurriedly. Henri once again pulled out his gun and pointed it at Damon, this time releasing the safety. "What are you two doing?" he asked blatantly. "Calm down Henri" Damon said as he lifted his hands in the air. "Let me explain" he said, and Henri lowered his gun once again after some hesitation.

"Franz and I are attempting to destroy the supercomputer here" Damon said to Henry. "ZAIA agents have infiltrated the government, we can't let them get their hands on the technology" Damon explained. "What about the factory supercomputer that you have been building?" Henri asked. "That's where you come in" Damon replied. "We need you to sign the order to let me lead the inevitable team that will intercept Franz at the factory supercomputer" he continued.

"Franz is going to lock himself inside the supercomputer, and I will be releasing a program to rid the computer of viruses" Damon concluded. "What kind of program are you using?" Henri asked. "It is a piece of software that has been designed to rid the factory supercomputer of Project Carthage, allowing Franz and his daughter to live in safety in the supercomputer. The program itself is based off some technology I developed based off information gathered from the ZAIA group, er, yesterday" Damon said, stumbling at the end. "How long have you been planning this with Franz for?" Henri asked. "About 2,000 days" Damon replied gruffly. "Impossible, ZAIA has not even existed for that long" Henri said. Damon sighed before replying. "It's a really, really long and complicated story" he said.

After Damon made sure that Henri filled out the proper paperwork, he led Henri back down the hall to the supercomputer entrance, which was looking like a battlefield at this point. In the middle of the room was the supercomputer, and about 10 feet to the left of it was Franz Hopper. "Hands up Hopper!" shouted a security guard. Franz agreed, and put his hands in the air. Once he did though, they disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and the rest of Franz's body followed. Franz reappeared on the other side of the room, and the guards began shooting at him. Franz chuckled as the bullets passed right through him, creating static disruption.

"What the hell is going on with Franz?" Henri called out to Damon above the sounds of guns firing. "He infected himself with a polymorphic specter, which is the link between the computer and the real world" Damon explained. "He is essentially a computer program with unlimited abilities, as long as the supercomputer back at the factory remains in one piece". Henri watched with a blank expression on his face as bullets passed through Franz. He had never seen anything like this before.

Franz put his hands on the floor and sent an eclectic pulse out in front of him towards the ground, toppling them over, and knocking them out. Damon watched as Franz walked towards the massive supercomputer sitting in the middle of the room. By the time Franz reached the piece of technology however, Damon heard a clicking sound come from behind him. "Not another step Hopper" Henri said from the back of the room, his gun pointing at Damon. "I can't kill you, that is obvious, but move and I will not hesitate" he continued. "Henri, what are you doing?" a scared Damon asked. "My job" Henri said through his teeth.

"Henri, just put the gun down" Franz said as he began to move towards Henri. "Stop!" Henri exclaimed as he turned off his gun's safety. "I have a very overdeveloped trigger finger" he continued to say. Franz stared at Henri for a moment before disappearing in a pool of smoke. "Where the hell did he go?" Henri asked Damon, who replied with a shrug. "Answer me!" Henri yelled. "I have no idea, he can be anywhere!" Damon replied, fearing for his life. Nevertheless, Franz reappeared right behind Henri, and sent 100,000 volts of electricity surging through his body.

"Son of a bitch" Henri coughed as he fell to the ground. His gun fell from his hand and hit the floor. Unfortunally, the gun's safety was off, and the silence in the air was broken by the sound of a click as the bullet fired from the gun. Damon's eyes widened as he felt the blow from the bullet pass through his stomach. He fell to the ground, as a pool of his own blood formed around his body. "Franz" he croaked as he felt the blood leave his body.

Franz ran from the supercomputer over to Damon, stepping over Henri's unconscious body. "Damon, save your energy" Franz said. "Listen to me Franz" Damon said quietly. "You need to go and shut down the factory supercomputer now, before ZAIA can get to it" Damon said. "Just be patient" Franz said confidently. "What are you doing?" Damon asked as he coughed up blood. Franz's hand was hovering over the point in Damon's stomach where the bullet entered. "Fixing you" Franz said as smoke shot out of Franz's fingers and into the wound.

Damon started shaking violently on the ground, his limbs going through intense spasms. "What's happening?" Damon said as his body shook. "I will explain in a moment" Franz said as he held Damon's body against the ground. Franz watched as the bullet hole filled in with the black specter now inside Damon's body, and as flesh covered and filled in the hole. After about 30 seconds, Damon's body stopped its erratic shaking, and he laid on the floor, gasping for air.

"How am I alive?" was the first thing that came from Damon's mouth. "I transferred the specter inside me to you to fix you internally" Franz replied as he helped Damon stand up. "So you're saying I have software inside of me now?" Damon asked, horrified at the concept. Franz nodded as he said "A prototype version of XANA is now in your body. It was the only way I could keep you alive. It is just a small version of it, so it only repaired your health" Franz said.

While Franz thought that all he did was fix Damon's bullet wound and his internal body damage, he did far more damage to Damon's psyche. The human mind was never meant to blend with technology directly, and even though only a small part of the XANA program now resided in Damon, Franz underestimated the strength of the program. Already, the XANA program was overriding Damon's personality, switching Damon's goals without either Damon or Franz realizing it.

"The supercomputer…" Damon started to say before Franz cut him off. "I have not destroyed it yet" Franz said as he walked over to Henri's body. "What about him?" Damon asked as Franz observed the unconscious body. "I think I sent enough electricity into his body to send him into a coma" Franz said. He knelt down and pulled Henri's wallet out of his pocket. He opened the wallet and searched through the various cards and found a white note card with the numbers "26-1-9-1" on it.

"Henri was a ZAIA agent" Franz said as he ripped up the card. "This is why we need to destroy the technology. We can't let them get to it" Franz said. "I know, I know" Damon replied as he cleaned himself from the blood. Franz found Henri's gun lying on the floor and picked it up. "Stand back" he told Damon, who did so, knowing what Franz was about to do. Franz pointed the gun at the supercomputer's motherboard, loaded the gun, and fired.

Sparks emitted from the supercomputer as the entire piece of technology shut down. "He signed the paperwork, right?" Franz asked Damon who nodded. "I will lead the team to find you, and I will give you ample time to enter the supercomputer" Damon said as he rubbed his head. "Something wrong?" Franz asked him. "I just have a migraine" Damon said, and that was the last thing he consciously said before XANA took over Damon's body. XANA would now be in control until the supercomputer was shut down, and he was now organizing his plan to rid the world of Franz, as he was a traitor to the government, which XANA's main goal was to protect.


	9. Episode 9

Episode 9:

"The Beginning of the End"

Jeremy laid there on the floor of the interrogation room. His head was shaking, his eyes were moving rapidly under the closed eyelids. His body was still for the most part, but his mind was active. Blood dripped down Jeremy's nose as visions of the events to come filled his head. He was experiencing those future events mentally, and his body was taking the impact, even though the events have not happened yet physically.

Jeremy's eyes shot open, and he gasped for air. He immediately did some calculations in his head to figure out how long he had been out for. This was his third displacement, so he concluded that he was out for an hour and 32 minutes, which would have to be the same duration of his visions. He knew how the next hour and a half was about to play out, and it was ugly. He immediately opened the door and bolted from the room, and used his memory from his future displacement to find his friends.

**1 hour, 32 minutes ago:**

Sirens started blazing throughout the halls, accompanied by flashing red lights. "They know were here" Ulrich said out loud. "Where did you get that idea from?" Odd replied sarcastically as he loaded his arm. "Come on, we need to find the chip" Yumi said, as she started running down the hall. "Yumi, wait" Ulrich said. "We still have no idea where the chip is" he said. "I think I do" Aelita said. "Follow me, I'll tell you along the way". "Hold it right there" came a new voice from behind the group, who turned around when they heard the command.

Standing in front of the gang now was a full line of government security operatives, each armed with a Varity of weapons. "Hold or we'll shoot" said one of the operatives. "I have another idea" Odd quipped before he started shooting laser arrows from his arm. Immediately the soldiers started firing their guns on the gang. Ulrich pulled out his swords, and Yumi pulled out her fans, and both of them used the weapons to block the bullets flying towards them. Aelita was charging balls of energy in her hands and firing them towards the enemy.

Aelita fired the energy, which flew across the room and hit two separate soldiers, who flew back and fell onto the ground unconscious. "Odd, stop firing" Aelita said to her friend. "Why? You do realize that they are also firing at us?" he replied. "Let me knock them out with my energy beams. It leaves to physical damage to their bodies, so no one will know it was us" she said. "Good thinking" Odd said as he lowered his arm.

Aelita charged her hands up again, letting them fill out with pink energy, before firing them. The energy hit half of the soldiers, who flew backwards and onto the ground. "Stand down" came a new voice from behind the group. The security operatives stopped firing, and the Lyoko gang turned around to face the new voice. "Thank you for coming" Damon said to the group. "You have no idea how much I have been looking forward to this".

Ulrich ran forward as he gripped his Katana. "Ulrich, don't!" Yumi screamed, and Ulrich stopped. "Good boy, listen to your girlfriend" Damon said with a chuckle. "Give us the chip Damon" Aelita said. "Aelita, I am sorry to hear about the death of your father" Damon said. "You were the one who killed him" she dug her nails into her own palms to release her stress. "And I had a fun time doing so" Damon replied, setting her off the edge. Before she could do anything though, Odd fired an arrow at Damon's direction.

Odd's laser arrow flew through the air, and met its target without a problem. However, if flew right through Damon's head. No blood, no marks, no falling backwards onto the ground unconscious which is what should happen when you are shot in the head. Damon stood there for a moment, and started laughing. "You really have no idea what you're up against" he said coldly. "What did Jeremy tell you before he passed out?" Damon asked the gang. They just stood there, wide eyed, not knowing what to say. "Hmm, are you all there?" Damon asked. "You… you just survived a bullet to the head" Odd stuttered. "Do you have a point?" Damon asked Odd, who's mouth started to tremble. "What the hell are you?" Aelita asked. Damon simply grinned. "Tranq them" he said.

"What did he say?" Ulrich asked Yumi, but that was the last thing any of them said. Each of them felt a cold bullet enter their backs, and each of them fell onto the ground, one by one. Their visions became blurred, and their hearing stopped. They passed out on the ground. "That's all" Damon said to the soldiers, who then went back to their respective posts as if nothing had happened. He activated his stopwatch. He made sure that the soldiers had enough tranquilizer to knock each of the intruders out for about an hour and 15 minutes.

Damon dragged each of the bodies individually back to the computer labs, where he has been setting up for this event. Jeremy might have sent his friends to destroy the computer chip, but he was playing right into Damon's hands without knowing it. Everything that had happened so far Damon calculated would happen. By taking the chip from the graduation, he started off the events that he knew would lead to here. Jeremy became dislodged in time, incapacitating him half the time, and his friends were about to unwillingly donate the codes needed for him to follow through on his plans.

Damon opened a drawer below the central computer in the lab and pulled out 4 thick converter boxes, each one of them had a different name written on them. He placed each box on the ground next to its human counterpart. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out 4 needles. He looked down to see the kids drooling unconsciously. Damon walked to the kid closest to him (Odd, though it didn't matter to Damon) and knelt down. Once he turned Odd over to lie on his stomach, he pulled out one of the needles, and without hesitation, plugged it into Odd's spinal cord. One by one, Damon inserted the needles into the backs of the unconscious Lyoko warriors. "Your dad would be proud" he said as he slid the needle into Aelita's back.

Once he made sure each of the kids had a needle, he pulled out some wires from the drawer, and attached them to both sides of the converter box. For each unconscious drooler there was a needle which was attached to a cable, attached to the converter box, and all of those boxes were attached to the central computer. Damon checked his stopwatch. He only had 30 minutes to go. Dragging the kids to their current location and hooking them up to the computer was tiring and long, but it was going to pay off. Damon had one more step to complete before activating the program his program. He reached below his desk and pulled out a roll of cellophane.

Damon walked back to the unconscious Lyoko warriors and started unrolling the cellophane from the tube. He pulled out 4 individual strips and attached them to the ground, in front of the feet of each unconscious kid. Carefully, he pulled each sheet over the body and head of each member of the group, and wrapped their entire bodies inside of the thin plastic like material. Their bodies needed to be bound to the ground for this process to be successful. If their bodies experienced uncontrollable spasms, the connection between them and the computer would have likely been broken, and Damon was hoping that the cellophane would be enough to hold them down. With about 25 minutes left on his stopwatch, he was as prepared as he could have gotten. He took the computer mouse, scrolled up on the computer screen, and activated his program.

Under the cellophane, the bodies of Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and most importantly Aelita started flying wildly under the cellophane. Sparks flew from the needles, and the converter boxes began heating up. Binary code started scrolling across Damon's computer, but he paid no attention to that. He was being entertained by the pain the bodies of Jeremy's friends were enduring. The cellophane was doing its job perfectly, keeping them down on the floor tightly so the needles stayed in place. Sparks continued to be emitted from the needles.

The needles themselves were the most important part of this process. By being inserted into each of the kid's backs, they were attached to their spinal cords, allowing Damon to access their central nervous system, which gave him valuable information in their brains. In this case, Damon was looking for the computer codes that connected digital technology to the real world. Because Damon did not have access to Lyoko, he could not activate any towers, which linked digital and reality. Whenever Jeremy transfers someone to Earth from Lyoko, they link digital and reality, meaning that the unconscious kids lying in front of him were mobile towers, or at least contained the codes. In order for Damon to harness the contents of the computer chip, he needed the codes to link the digital and reality. Jeremy sending his friends enabled Damon to take the codes he needed to activate his own link between the real world and technology.

After a few more minutes, the kids stopped their erratic movements on the ground. The sparks stopped flying, and the converter boxes, which converted the codes from the body into the binary that Damon needed, cooled down. Suddenly, Damon's watch started beeping. He looked at his watch and turned it off. His hour and 32 minutes were up. On the other side of this building, Jeremy would be waking up by now. Right on schedule. He let out a slight chuckle as he watched Jeremy's friends start waking up under their cellophane. Damon reached under his desk and pulled out a tank of gasoline.

On the other side of the building, Jeremy was running through the halls as if it was a maze. When he reached one dead end, he backed up and rounded another corner. After a couple minutes of running, he reached an open area with bullets in the ground. Jeremy stopped running and started inspecting the area, trying to find a clue on where he was. After a while, he noticed an oddly shaped bulled jammed into one of the walls. After further inspection, he realized that it was one of Odd's arrows rather than a bullet. "I'm close" Jeremy quietly said to himself.

Jeremy continued down the hall until he reached a door titled "ZAIA Computer Hub". Without hesitation, Jeremy gripped the handle tightly, and opened the door. Immediately, he heard the voices of his friends. "Jeremy, stand back" he heard. He looked down and saw his friends all bound to the floor under clear cellophane covered with a yellow liquid. "One step forward and ill set fire to your friend" Damon said from across the room, holding up a lit match. "What the hell do you want this time Damon?" Jeremy asked as he stood his ground. "I want you and your friends to watch" Damon smirked as he put out the match. He walked over to his computer and began typing furiously into the keypad.

"I have been waiting for this moment for an unimaginable amount of time" Damon said as he operated the computer. "Of course, because programs can't imagine". Damon stopped typing and looked up. "You're damn right" he said. He raised his hand, and before Jeremy could move out of the way, was struck by lightning. His body flew through the air and was slammed against the wall. Jeremy fell unconscious, but not because of a displacement, but because of the force of the impact. His body slid to the ground as Aelita started crying. "Who the hell are you?" Ulrich asked, still trapped under the cellophane.

Damon picked up the computer chip and plugged it into a modified computer drive. "I am surprised Jeremy didn't tell you in your mission briefing" Damon said as he turned around and walked to the kids bound to the ground. "Then again, it would make sense that he would not want to put more pressure on you" he said. Silence filled the air as it became clear to the gang who they were up against. "We destroyed you" Yumi said. "Jeremy's multi-agent thingy wiped you out" she said. "For the most part, it did" Damon said while grinning. "But how stupid do you think I am? I made sure to leave a biological backup of myself in case something went wrong. It was an investment that paid off" he continued to say.

Damon walked back towards the computer and typed in a password to activate his program. "H-O-P-P-E-R" he said aloud as he typed the letters into his program, and hit the "Enter" key. Immediately, the computer processor started overheating as green lights started flashing from within the computer. "What are you doing?" Odd called out to Damon. "Spreading" he replied coldly. "The XANA virus is now infecting the entire French government server. In a couple of minutes, I will have access to all the government recourses I need, and no one will notice" he said. He turned around again to face the kids. "Remember that space supercomputer you destroyed?" he asked them, and they nodded their heads, they were becoming too scared to speak. "Well, I repaired it, and it's about to become by new home. I don't need the factory supercomputer any more, once I move to space, I am out of your reach" he said.

The silence that followed was broken by a "completed" audio clip from the computer and the laughter from Damon. "You think that you finally beat me all those years ago, didn't you?" he said with a chuckle. "You really think that 5 teenagers could beat a government powered piece of technology that easily? You have no idea what you were up against" he said as anger grew in his voice. "You won't be as lucky this time". "You think you bested me?" Damon called out to a still unconscious Jeremy on the other side of the room. "You have no idea what kind of havoc you have unleashed upon the world, simply by sending your friends here".

Damon ejected the computer chip from the computer and crushed it. He let the pieces fall to the floor, where he proceeded to step on them. Around the computer lab, the computers turned themselves on one by one, each flashing the eye of XANA upon activation before shutting back off. Damon laughed once again. "I think I have overdone the monologue" he said with a smile. "Just pass along this message to Jeremy when he wakes up: XANA is back, and this time, I'm bringing the fight to you" he said. He then backed up, and disappeared into a ball of smoke. The smoke rose through the room and exited through the ceiling.

Aelita punched through her cellophane, and immediately helped her friends out of their miniature plastic prisons. She then ran directly towards the main computer hub and started doing some calculations. "Can you stop it?" Yumi asked Aelita. "No, XANA has already spread across the network" Aelita responded. "But what the hell does that even mean?" Ulrich asked. Aelita turned off the computer and turned around to face her friends. "It means that XANA has infected the French government. He has access to every government secret, program, and file. He can now manipulate the government, its weapons, and its forces. He is in charge" Aelita said solemnly. "Doesn't he need to have a central supercomputer?" Odd asked, and Aelita nodded. "He relocated to the space station supercomputer. We destroyed it, but he repaired it, and our only way of getting to it is incapacitated" she said, pointing to Jeremy.

"Hold on, so who was that just now, XANA or Damon?" Yumi wondered aloud. "More than likely it was XANA possessing Damon" Aelita said. "But how?" Ulrich asked, but Aelita cut him off. "I don't know, I just don't know" she said as tears started to form in her eyes. "So what do we do now?" Odd asked after a long period of silence. Aelita silently picked up the cellophane wraps, still with the gasoline on them, and threw them at the central computer. She picked up the box of matches that Damon was using. She lit a match, and threw it at the cellophane. She watched as flames engulfed the central computer. "We hope for the best" she said.


	10. Episode 10

Yes, I know it has been almost a month since the last chapter. I have just had a lot of stuff going on and have not found the inspiration to continue. However, I do plan on finishing up this tale, and I do have a sequel planned if I do get enough positive support. Anyways, it might take a while, but I will finish this story. I am capping it off at either 13 or 14 episodes, I have not decided which yet.

* * *

Episode 10

"The Forgotten Days"

**June 7, 1994:**

"Please… please stop" Damon said between gasping air. "I can't take much more of this" he said. "Then tell us what we want to know" said Louis, the chief of security for the French government. "I have no idea what happened, he told me nothing" Damon panted. Louis turned and nodded to another person in the room, and without warning, Damon felt 10,000 volts of electricity surge through his body. "Gahhh!" he screamed out loud as the pain set into his body.

"Why should I trust you?" Louis asked Damon. "You were friends and partners with Damon, why would he not inform you with his plans? Why would you not help him?" he asked. "I… was… with… Henri" Damon said slowly, breathing deeply in between words. "You can… ask him" Damon continued. "Yes, we would" Louis said thoughtfully. "Unfortunately though, he is in a coma" he informed Damon. "What the hell happened to him?" Damon asked, as if he didn't know. "That's classified" Louis snapped back at him, and once again, 10,000 volts flowed through Damon's flesh.

"Please stop" Damon said, tears flowing down his face. "Pain is unbearable, isn't it?" Louis asked, looking directly into Damon's tearing eyes. Louis looked back to the person controlling the torture mechanics and signaled him to stop. "What were you doing yesterday around this time?" Louis asked. Thankfully, Damon already went over a fabricated story with Franz prior to the attack should he be questioned. What disturbed Damon though was the fact that in reality, he could not remember anything after being healed by Franz.

"I was with Henri, in his office" Damon lied, although he pretended to mull these thoughts over in his head for effect. "Helping him fill out his paperwork to take over your job when you get promoted" he continued. "Franz came in and shot him". "Why didn't he shoot you?" Louis asked curiously. "I… I… I just don't know" Damon purposely stuttered. Louis appeared to buy into the story. "Very well than, get out of my sight" Louis said as he unhooked Damon from the electrocution equipment.

"On a second thought" Louis started to say, and Damon sighed at the thought of more torture. "I need you to do me a favor" he said. "On the record or off?" Damon asked as he sat back down in his chair. "Most defiantly off the record" Louis said, and Damon was suddenly much more interested. "One thing we did learn from yesterday's events was that there are ZAIA agents inside our programs" he said. "I have noticed that" Damon replied eagerly. "I need you to track down the corrupted government members and take them out" Louis said.

"I will do that, but on a condition" Damon said as he stood back up. "I do want this on paper" he said. He glared into Louis's eyes, and saw that Louis was not content with that condition. "Only way I will do this" Damon said. "Why?" Louis asked slyly. "Because if there are any consequences, there will be questions, and I will need to supply an answer" Damon said with a grin. "Fine" Louis said with a scowl. "Just write the goal on a piece of paper with your signature" Damon smirked. Louis furiously wrote down what he just said to Damon and signed his name on the piece of paper.

"Here is your paper" Louis said, holding it up at Damon's eye level, but not handing it to Damon. Damon himself was also in no hurry to grab the piece of paper. "Don't you want your signature?" Louis asked, although it was more of a tease. "How can I trust you wrote down what I wanted?" Damon asked cautiously. "I wrote down that it is now your goal to eliminate members of ZAIA. Do you not trust me?" Louis asked. "Why should I?" Damon asked, as he slowly reached into his pocket and gripped his gun. "Why shouldn't you?" Louis replied. "Because you're ZAIA" Damon said with a smile.

Instinctively, Louis jumped and ducked to the left, but over 2,000 days worth of training prepared Damon for this, and he pulled out his gun and shot to where he correctly predicted Louis was going to go. Damon watched as the bullet pierced Louis's stomach. "How the hell did you know?" Louis asked as he coughed up blood. "2,547 days worth of studying and preparing" Damon said as he picked up the piece of paper on the ground. Sure enough, Louis signed it properly. "Clever plan though" Damon continued to say, seemingly puzzling Louis.

"I know you were planning on framing me on leading ZAIA to cover your ass" Damon said. "When did you learn all of this?" Louis asked as he was nearing his last breaths. "Again, I have been studying for the past 2,547 days" Damon repeated. "Yea, ok, so you have been preparing for the past decade?" Louis asked sarcastically. "No, just June 6" Damon said. "Only one day then?" A genuinely confused Louis questioned. Damon was having fun messing with Louis's mind. "Good day Louis" Damon finished. He opened the door and walked out of the room, leaving Louis to bleed to death. Damon didn't care though. That was the first causality from his new assignment.

**April 10, 2004**

Damon was sitting at his desk, filling out paperwork. He turned on the news to get an update on world events, and laughed when he watched people in America rushing to finish their taxes. "Lazy procrastinators" he said to himself as he went back to work. He was filling out a progress report for his immediate superiors on his elimination of ZAIA agents infiltrating the government. He stood up and stapled his papers together and went to hand them in to his boss.

"Morning Trudy" Damon said as he entered his boss's office. "Do you have an appointment?" replied Trudy, his boss's secretary. "No, I am just here to drop off some papers" Damon said. "Can you give them to him?" Damon asked her. "Sure" she said simply, and walked over to Damon to pick up the stapled papers. As he handed the papers over to her though, something strange happened. Damon's head started pounding with pain. His hand was throbbing with pain as he handed the papers over.

"Are you alright?" Trudy asked him. "I'm fine" Damon stuttered. He pushed the papers into Trudy's hands and rushed out of the room. 'Am I having a seizure, maybe a stroke?' he thought to himself as he ran down the hall. He didn't really think those were possibilities, but he was hoping they were, as they were much better than the possibility dominating Damon's thoughts. Damon ran immediately into the old Project Carthage computer labs.

Damon pushed the doors open, but before he could enter the room a sharp pain ignited in his spine. "Shit" he whispered as he buckled down on the ground. Attempting to block out the pain, Damon crawled on the floor to the main computer bank. Burning pain started to erupt in the back of Damon's head as he managed to get back on his feet and turn on the computer. "No, nononono" Damon thought to himself as he logged into the computer. Immediately a DOS command box popped up and started running codes before a message popped up on the screen. "Project Carthage Activation Confirmed" came from the computer.

Terror filled Damon's face as he realized the reasoning for his pain became clear. "Have a nice day" the computer said before shutting down. Damon replied by punching the computer's screen. Sure, the glass caused him to bleed a little on his hand, but it was nothing compared to the explosions going on in his head. Damon sat on the ground, loosing control of his body which was now moving erratically around the ground. Inside his head, Damon was subconsciously fighting for control of his body against an entity that had been lying dormant ever since the supercomputer was shut down.

Years and years ago, when Damon's life was saved by Franz infecting him with a specter, he was infected with the XANA virus that temporarily took control of Damon's body. Once the supercomputer was deactivated, XANA died in Damon, or at least was inactive without a power source. With the supercomputer reactivated, XANA was once again alive, and was now fighting it out with Damon for power of Damon's body.

A couple minutes and a nosebleed later, the pain inside Damon's head relaxed, and he lied back on the ground, gasping for air as he tried to lower his heart rate. His mind won the battle, but the war was not over. XANA was suppressed for now, but now Damon had to figure out why the hell the supercomputer powering the virus was reactivated, and how to get the virus out of his head.

**January 1, 2006**

"Happy new year!" came from the speakers on Damon's television.. He was sitting down on his couch, surrounded by beer bottles to rush in the New Year. "To Double 06!" Damon said sloppily, raising his beer bottle. He took a swig out of the bottle and dropped it on the couch. He sat there on the couch, looking at the screen, before tears started running down his face. He dropped his head into his hands, and let the tears flow. 'Another crappy year' he thought to himself. He picked the bottle back up, drained it, and without thinking about it, smashed it against the table in front of him.

Damon walked awkwardly back towards his room. He staggered through the door and lied down on his bed. He looked up at his ceiling and thought about the mess that his life had become. The reactivation of Lyoko years ago not only gave him the pains of suppressing the XANA virus, but it brought back the memories from his work with Franz that he also tried to suppress. Knowing that Lyoko was once again active meant he had to remember the downsides of the project, primarily the fact that he created the virus that killed Antea Hopper. Once Lyoko was reactivated, Damon started to spiral into depression, removing himself from his friends and family. He could not deal with the consequences of his actions over a decade ago.

"Happy New Year" came a voice from the other side of the room. Damon bolted up and turned on the lights when he heard the voice. "Curtis" he said as he looked at his son sitting in a chair near his computer. "How the hell did you get in here?" Damon mumbled. "Through the technology you invented" Curtis replied smugly. Damon froze out of fear, and it took him a few moments to thoroughly process what his son just said. "XANA" he said quietly. "Is that a question or a statement?" the entity said with a chuckle. "But that's not important. How are you doing?" he asked. "My life has been hell" Damon replied, not thinking before talking. "Ah, I can tell" XANA smirked. "It looks like all the guilt has finally caught up to you". "What the hell are you here for?" Damon shot back at XANA.

"I have recently moved out of my home" XANA said nonchalantly. "What does that entail?" Damon questioned. "It means that I am no longer bonded to your supercomputer. I am free to roam where I please" XANA informed his creator. "And you are telling me… Why?" Damon asked his creation. XANA let out a brief sigh followed by some slight laughter before speaking again. "I no longer have a copy of myself directly imbedded in a piece of technology, and while I will remedy that soon, I am going one step further" he said. He stood up from his chair and with a grin on his face, walked over to Damon and put his hand on Damon's shoulder. "I want to have a biological copy of myself as well".

Sparks flew from the hand of Damon's son, and electricity flowed from his body into Damon's. Damon's shoulder started burning as if it was on fire, but the energy flowing through him paralyzed his body. "The more you move, the more painful this will be" XANA said. Damon's eyes began to burn, and his pupils began to dilate into rings. "What the hell are you doing to me?" Damon asked through the searing pain. "Imprinting you with a copy of myself" XANA replied. "And not a possession specter, I am copying all of myself directly into your brain" he continued. Damon tried to ask another question, but the pain prevented him from opening his mouth.

After several minutes, the hand of Damon's son was removed from Damon's shoulder. Damon panted for air, and XANA waited for Damon to relax before continuing. "Why me?" Damon asked as tears returned to his eyes. "What the hell did I do to earn this?" he asked. "Its simple, really" XANA started to say. "You have already been corrupted mentally by your job, which was only worsened by your depression, making you very vulnerable" he continued. "Additionally, you already had a minor copy of me in your brain, making this imprinting much easier on the both of us" he concluded.

"So what is going to happen to me? Are you going to kill me, because that would be a blessing at this point" Damon sputtered. "Your going to have to suffer a little bit more then" XANA said with a chuckle. "My imprinting you was just a safety precaution, to protect my existence". "Protect it against what?" Damon wondered aloud. "Franz Hopper" XANA said with a smile. "Leave him alone" Damon said. He stood up from his bed to speak to XANA face to face. "Let me just cut to the point" XANA said.

"I am going to be creating digital backups of me across the globe. Franz, as well as some kids out there, which is a long story on its own, will be expecting that. They will not however expect me to create a biological backup in someone. In the event that all my digital entities are destroyed, I will essentially be reborn in your body" XANA said quickly. "What do you mean by you being reborn in me?" Damon asked drunkenly. "It's simple really" XANA said with charm. "If I, as well as my digital counterparts am destroyed, my biological backup in you will activate and basically evict you, your personality, and your memories, all of you" he concluded.

Damon stood there, stunned at what XANA was telling him. "You're going to take over my body?" he asked as his mouth trembled. "Exactly, now you're getting it" XANA said. "And… when would I get my body back?" Damon questioned, still not fully aware of the situation. "Ah, I guess I was not clear on that" XANA said. "To answer your question, never" he said simply. Damon stood there, looking at XANA in his son's body. "What?" is the only word he was able to say? "I just compressed myself in you. In order for me to take over your body, I will need to delete everything that is 'Damon Dunbar'. You would cease to exist" he informed Damon.

Damon sat back down on his bed, unable to fathom the events currently going on. "Anyways, I need to go now" XANA said. "I have some backups to create". "Hold on" Damon called out before XANA in his son's body was able to teleport away. "Will I have advance notice on when you're going to clean house my mind?" he asked hopefully. "Yes you will" XANA lied coldly. He loved dealing out false hope. He opened the door to Damon's room and walked out, leaving a stunned, depressed, and confused drunk government worker sitting on his bed.


	11. Episode 11

Episode 11:

"The Future Never Lies"

"Wake up Jeremy, wake up" Aelita said, shaking Jeremy's limp body on the ground for the second time in what felt to her like eternity. "Wha… what's going on?" Jeremy moaned as he returned to consciousness. "Where the hell are we?" he asked his friends. "A government facility right out of town. You sent us here, remember?" Ulrich commented as Jeremy stood back up on his feet. "Yea, yea, I remember. What happened though?" he asked, but before anyone could answer, all the computers in the lab turned on, with the shape of a familiar eye taking up the monitors. "No time, we need to get out of here" Aelita said.

Jeremy and his friends barged out of the computer lab and into the halls. "Follow me, I know the way out of here" Jeremy said, and started leading his friends down the white hall, but before they could reach the first corner, the Calvary arrived in the form of a possessed government operative. Odd extended his arm and charged up his arrows as Ulrich and Yumi reached for their weapons. "Stay behind me" Aelita told Jeremy as energy filled up her palms. The government operative wrestled his pistol from its holster and swiftly attached a silencer before aiming it between Aelita's eyes. Chaos shortly ensued.

The possessed body fired his bullet, which was stopped mid air by a rival bullet, custody of Odd, and before XANA could take another shot at Aelita's life, he was flown back against the wall from the impact of Aelita's energy blasts. Ulrich's swords pinned his shoulders to the wall, while Yumi's fans bound the operative's legs to the wall. "You already lost this battle" the possessed man said. "The battle will be lost before you even leave this building" he smirked. "We have stopped you be-" Jeremy started to say, but Aelita put her hand up, indicating Jeremy to shut up. Aelita walked over to the man still pinned against the wall, whose grin only grew.

"How are you doing this, we destroyed you" said Aelita. "Long story, but its not important how I am here, what's important is that I am here" he said. Aelita stared into XANA's eyes for a couple seconds, before opening her man and putting it on the possessed man's face. Without reconsidering her options, she sent all her energy through her hand into the unfortunate man attached to the wall. His body shook with fury until it laid limp and his heart beat stopped. "Why the hell did you do that Aelita?" Odd immediately commented as he loaded his arm and aimed it at Aelita.

"For years we have fought XANA, and while he kept on threatening lives, we never did" she said, with water forming in her eyes. "We need to raise our game" she said. "That does not mean killing people" Jeremy said quietly. His body was shaking as he watched the limp body hang from the wall. "Damon is XANA's main source right now, which means that if we want to destroy XANA, we need to off Damon" Aelita said. "You know I am right" she added, and saw the others agree with her, not verbally, but she saw their facial expressions. "Better know how to do it when the time comes than go in inexperienced".

"We need to keep moving" Ulrich said, breaking a couple seconds of silence. He and Yumi retrieved their weapons, and then they continued through the building. "The exit is this way" he said, pointing down the hall. "Go down, I will catch up with you" he said. "Don't be long, we need to get out of here" Aelita said, but he ushered her to continue. Jeremy stopped running with them, and continued to walk down the hallway slowly, looking for a certain room. Now that he was in the building, he had some other business to take care of.

After a couple minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for. Jeremy stopped in front of a door that on the surface looked like all the others in the building, but Jeremy knew the contents behind the door held a deeper meaning, he just did not know what they were yet. He looked up at the title of the door, which read '10.9.14'. Each office in the building was named after its primary occupant, and once the person who occupied the office left government work, the office was retired and kept as it was when the government official retired.

This room was of special interest to the ZAIA operation, according to files that Jeremy read on the organization. '10.9.14' was one of their bases, and it was no surprise to Jeremy that the room was locked when he tried to enter it. He grabbed the handle and shook it violently, but the more he shook it, the more his head began to pound. "Shit, not now" he thought, but there was no stopping it: He was going into another displacement. His nose started to bleed as his vision started fading. "Help!" he called out, hoping his friends would hear him. "I'm over here!" he said again, but heard no response. He sunk to his knees as he lost all his vision and was barely clinging onto consciousness. "Help" he barely let out one last time before he fainted on the floor.

**3 Hours, 4 Minutes Later**

Jeremy woke up on his bed, his head pounding, dry blood covering his upper lip from his nose. "Someone, anyone there?" he called out, his head in to much pain to lift up. After no response, he decided to sit up, even though it hurt him like hell. "What time is it?" he wondered aloud, though no one was there to hear his question. He glanced across his desk to check his clock, which was off. "Figures" he said as he rubbed his face.

He sat on his bed as he sorted out the numbers on his bed. He just had his fourth temporal displacement, so he had just woken up from a 3 hour and 4 minute power nap of sorts, but this is where he was confused. Did he just come out of a displacement? Or was he in one? Is this the past, present, or future in relation to real time? All of the math was making his headache worse, and Jeremy fell back down on his head. As he was laying there, looking up at his ceiling and thinking of better times, he heard his door open and Odd ran in.

"Thank god you woke up" Odd said hurriedly. "Odd, you look like hell" Jeremy commented, and Odd did look like hell. His pants were full of mud, and Odd was bleeding on his left cheek. "What the hell happened to you?" Jeremy asked his friend. "You have no idea what's going on, do you?" Odd asked Jeremy, who shook his head to indicate he did not. Odd ran across Jeremy's room to pull open the blinds. "Now that can not be a good thing" Jeremy said as he observed the events going on around him.

Outside, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita were fighting for their lives. The students and facility around them were attempting to kill them in any way possible. "Jim, snap out of it!" Ulrich yelled out to his teacher, who was trying to whack Ulrich to death with a baseball. Ulrich grabbed one of his katanas, kicked Jim in the groin, and held the tip of his sword at Jim's neck. "You were once of us once, come through for us" Ulrich yelled, but all his attempts were futile. XANA's eye was bold in Jim's eyes. It was the same for Yumi who was fighting Mrs. Hertz, and Aelita who was trying to fend off Mr. Delmas.

"What the hell happened?" Jeremy asked Odd. "Well, you passed out back at the government facility out of town, and we brought you back here" he explained. "By the time we arrived, XANA was possessing people. So far, it appears to be localized, but everyone who he has previous possessed who has is not immune, which is pretty much everyone on campus, is already under XANA's control" he concluded. "We need to destroy the space station supercomputer" Jeremy said to Odd, who nodded in agreement. "We were fighting down there to keep you safe" Odd said. Odd helped Jeremy get up from his bed, and the two of them left Jeremy's room.

"If we can gain access to the space station supercomputer, we can fix my temporal displacement problem" Jeremy commented to Odd, though Odd was barely listening. "Let me concentrate" Odd replied, and Jeremy kept silence as Odd loaded his arm and aimed around the corner of the hallway. "It's clear" Odd said, and Jeremy followed him down the hall and out the building. "Get down" Odd immediately ordered once they stepped outdoors. Jeremy did so and the looked up to see Odd wrestling with Sissy. Odd let her go and moved into en garde position.

Sissy launched a roundhouse kick on Odd, who proceeded to grab her leg and twist it. She fell to the ground, and Odd dug his heel into her stomach. "That will keep her knocked out for a couple hours" Odd commented to Jeremy, who was paralyzed with shock. "Aelita, lovie dovies, over here!" Odd called out to his friends, getting frowns from Ulrich and Yumi. "I have Jeremy!" he added, and they ran over. "We need to get to the factory Jeremy" Aelita said to Jeremy. "Yes, yes" Jeremy repeated as he furiously shook his head, his eyes fixated on Sissy's unconscious body. "What?" he asked as he turned his head towards Aelita. "Focus Jeremy, we need to get to the factory" she repeated, a little angry. "Of course, right" he said quickly, before glancing back at Sissy.

"Focus!" Yumi said, snapping in front of Jeremy. "Right, lets go" he said, taking his eyes off of Sissy again and starting to walk away. Before he could get very far though, Nurse Yolanda attempted to tackle him from the side. Yumi quickly intervened, swiftly kicking her in the thigh, causing her to topple over. Jeremy froze in fear once again, and only resumed walking when Aelita held his hand and tugged him to keep moving with the others. They continued to walk towards the sewer entrance in the woods, with Jeremy in the middle of his friends.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Ulrich asked Jeremy as they climbed into the sewers. "I am going to virtualize you back into Lyoko, and you are going to shut down the space station" Jeremy said as calmly he possibly could. "But the Skid was destroyed, remember? How will we get back to the space station?" Yumi asked Jeremy. "Well, since Damon uploaded the contents of the chip that I used to materialize you at the government facility into the space station supercomputer, I can just refocus on the same codes and signal and bring you directly into space" Jeremy said hurriedly as he stepped off of the ladder. "Good luck with that" a dark voice said from behind the gang.

Jeremy's eyes widened in fear. "Multi layered voice" he whispered to himself before turning around with his friends. "Where are you all heading off to?" said the figure, whose voice was layered with that of XANA's. Ulrich drew a Katana and held it behind his back, as Odd aimed at the source of the voice. From out of the shadows appeared William, not only in full Lyoko gear, but in the armor he wore when under XANA's influence.

"How the hell are you possessing him, he should be immune like we are" Jeremy said to XANA, who chuckled slightly. "Yes, but unlike the rest of you, this dear boy was under my control for an intense, extended period of time. He is mine whenever I want him to be" XANA snarled. "All I had to do was reclaim his body and use your materialization program, so I should be thanking you Jeremy" he added as he drew his sword. Odd started firing away immediately, with arrows being joined and merged with Aelita's energy beams. XANA raised his sword to block the attack as Yumi and Ulrich ran towards him.

Yumi attacked William from behind and attempted to trip him as Ulrich prepared for a melee. William recovered with a back flip before attempting to chop Yumi with his sword. Ulrich came up from behind William and crossed his katanas around William's neck. "Give it up" Ulrich said furiously, but this only encouraged XANA to try harder. XANA faded into a cloud of smoke, but instead of simply teleporting to another area, he allowed the cloud of smoke to expand. "Guys, you there?" Odd called out, coughing through the smoke. "I can't see anything" Aelita chimed in, walking blindly with her hands out in front of her, feeling her way through the sewer.

"Where did William go?" Jeremy said, knelling on the ground, trying to stay away from the water. "He is in here, somewhere" Odd said, hugging the wall and staying put. "What about you Ulrich?" Jeremy called out, but there was no response. "Ulrich?" Yumi called out, with fear growing in her voice. "You there buddy?" Odd called out, but Ulrich did not reply. "Guys, over here" Aelita said from the center of the sewer. "I think…. Something happened" she said slowly. Her friends wandered to the source of her voice, but it was not until the smoke cleared that they realized what she was talking about.

Ulrich's body lied cold on the ground, with his katanas lieing on his sides. His mouth was barely hanging open, and his eyes were open but lifeless. "Ulrich" Yumi whimpered quietly as she ran over to his body. "No, no no no no" Odd said to himself, and he also rushed over to his friend's unconscious vessel. "Wake up buddy" he said as he slapped Ulrich's face. "Ulrich" Yumi quietly repeated to herself as her eyes started to flood. Aelita walked over to Jeremy to comfort him as he looked at his friend's body. "This can't be happening" Jeremy told Aelita as he started to hyperventilate. "This can't be real" he continued, and she laid her head on his shoulder as she to start to cry. "Ulrich!" Yumi cried out as she started to shake his body violently to no avail.

Jeremy stood there, watching all of this, as his heart rate started to pick up as his hyperventilation continued. He grabbed the bottom of his arm and felt his pulse rapidly increase. "This isn't real" he said to himself. "This isn't happening" he added. He rubbed his nose and saw the blood coming out of it. "I can stop this" he said out loud to his friends as his vision started to fade. They all looked up at him curiously. "You're not going to remember this, I can prevent this from happening" he continued as he sunk to his knees. "I'll bring him back" he said with his final breath before he passed out from the headaches.

The next thing Jeremy saw was his room's ceiling again, and he got up from his bed with his heart pounding. He wiped the blood from his nose and walked over to his window to see his friends fighting outside. He sat down near his computer and started thinking about what to do next. He just experienced one possible scenario of the events to come, and he had the ability to change everything. Knowing that Odd was going to come in his room in a few minutes to check up on him, Jeremy opened up a document on his computer.

"I know what's going on, I know how it started, and I know how to stop it" Jeremy typed at the top of the document. "Don't worry about me; make sure you are all safe. Aelita, I have always loved you, I just want you to know that. When I am done what I am about to do, this battle will be over, and we will have won, but there is still a war out there. In case I do not make it back, you need to find out who was the head of ZAIA before it became a government operation and locate him. He or she is the key to stopping this mess. All the info I have collected so far is located in a folder in the drawer below my computer" he typed.

He re-read the document a couple times, rethought his plan, and sighed before getting out of his chair and pushing it in. He looked outside and saw Odd running towards the dorm building, to check up on Jeremy, who knew this was his one chance to set things right. He opened his door and walked out of his room without looking back. He knew what he had to do to stop this madness, and he knew how to avoid the events that he just witnessed in his mind. He had a goal to complete.


	12. Episode 12

Episode 12:

"Goodbye"

Jeremy rounded the corner of the hallway and traveled down the stairs of the dorm building. He opened the door slightly to take a peek at the chaos taking place outdoors. He watched as his friends fought wave after wave of possessed students and faculty members, and he followed Odd break away from the group and run towards the dorm building. In fact, Odd was running right towards the door Jeremy was peeking through. Jeremy quickly walked into the corner and scrunched down on the floor as Odd slammed the door open and ran up the stairs.

Jeremy waited for the sound of Odd's footsteps to disappear before standing back up and slipping right through the door and out of the building. He observed his surroundings. The sky was blue and cloudless for the most part, and the sun was shining bright. Today would have been the perfect day for Jeremy's friends to plan to play outside and for Jeremy to continue working on his laptop, but obviously this was not the case. He winced as he watched Aelita be attacked by the school lunch lady, and Jeremy remembered that he had a task to complete.

For now, Jeremy had to focus on getting to the sewer entrance without being noticed, especially by his friends, who would no doubt rush to his aid. Jeremy bolted for the nearest tree to hide behind, and narrowly dodged a stray energy blast from Aelita. He breathed a sigh of relief, and relaxed for a couple moments, looking up to the sky. When he looked back down, Sissy, with the beating symbol of XANA in her eyes, was in front of him. Jeremy was frozen in fear as Sissy stood there, looking straight forward, as if through Jeremy and the tree behind him. After a couple of moments, she started walking forward, and her body turned into static as she fazed right through Jeremy and the tree.

Jeremy's heart stopped beating as he processed what just happened mentally. After some deep breathing, he looked around the tree and saw Sissy preparing to attack his friends. He then realized how XANA was controlling this. Jeremy smiled when he realized how XANA was working this time. Instead of controlling people individually, he was turning all their attention to attacking Odd, Aelita, Yumi, and Odd. All he did was set up a target and let his mindless drones do the work until they were incapacitated. When Jeremy faced Sissy, she was on her way to her target, and since XANA was not controlling her specifically, she would not attack anyone other than her targets. XANA essentially saw Jeremy, but was not about to change his attack structure that had been working so far. XANA was planning other surprises for Jeremy though.

Once he was clear of Sissy, Jeremy broke for the sewers. He picked up the sewer plate and kicked it aside and jumped into the sewers. He knelt down as he reached the ground to reduce the impact, as he was still not used to these stunts. Jeremy wobbled a little bit as he tried to regain balance on the ground. "Not easy, is it?" Jeremy heard from behind him. He quickly turned around and tried to scan the darkness for the source of the voice. "I'm behind you" the voice whispered into Jeremy's ear, and he turned his head around as he analyzed the voice, or rather the layers of the voice.

"William" Jeremy said out loud. "Close, but it's not just me in here" William said as he stepped out of the darkness. "XANA" Jeremy grinned. "Were you waiting for my friends?" Jeremy said. "Eh, waiting for anyone really" the virus said through William's body. "I thought you were using a group mind technique this time, just set a target and let the bodies do the work" Jeremy commented. "Indeed yes, but William is a special case, we all know that" XANA said. "My extended deep control of him in the past has allowed me to separate him from the group mind technique" he continued to explain. "But let's talk about you, how have you been? I noticed you upgraded yourself" XANA said with a smirk, and Jeremy smiled.

**2 Months Ago:**

"Video Journal 125" Jeremy said into his computer camera, now recording everything he was saying. He was in his room, sitting in his chair and facing the computer's camera, recording a new entry for his video journal. "I have finished repairs on the brain wave alteration helmet I created long ago to increase my intelligence through transportations through time". Jeremy looked down and wiped his glasses clean before continuing. "Indeed I destroyed the helmet, but I needed to repair the technology in order to combat ZAIA" he continued.

"I have yet to tell my friends about ZAIA, and I feel that is for the better" he said directly into the camera. "I don't want to bring them back into the battlefield. Ever since we shut down the supercomputer, they have been enjoying their freedom, I don't want to be the one to take it away, so I am going to get to the bottom of ZAIA on my own, and in order to do that, I needed to repair my helmet" he said without taking a breath. He then proceeded to open up a drawer under his desk and pull our familiar technology chip from the supercomputer.

"I intend to harbor the contents of this chip. Over the past few months, I have done research, and have concluded that the ability to launch digital specters is localized to this chip" he said as he examined the chip. "If anything goes wrong in the experiment preceding this video, and you are watching this, please utilize the information in the folder in which you found this video's information in. It will answer all your questions" he finished before shutting off the camera. "Here goes everything he said" as he put the helmet onto his head.

Jeremy took the computer chip and stared at it for a few minutes, reconsidering what he was about to do. He rethought his plan for a few seconds before deciding to go through with it. He plugged the chip into the side of the helmet in a slot specially developed for the chip. He let out a final sigh before activating the helmet. The helmet lit up a bright blue as its parts started moving around. The machinery started heating up around Jeremy's head, and without advanced notice, sparks flew out of the sides and the device began to smoke, but Jeremy was not alarmed. He knew what was going to happen.

The smoke flowed from the machine, but instead of spreading throughout the room, it flowed through Jeremy's ears and into his head. Indeed, this was not normal smoke, but a specter generated by the helmet. The specter flowed into Jeremy's mind and his eyesight began to fade, but only momentarily. His eyesight returned, and the smoke cleared his head as the machine turned off. He unhooked the contraption from his head and put it on his desk. He flexed his fingers in front of him, but he didn't notice anything different, which was good.

Jeremy rubbed his head, which was currently very hot from the machine overheating, and he grabbed bottled water from his desk and started chugging it down. "Nothing feels different" he said to himself once his head settled down. He started wondering if his experiment worked like it should have. He examined the helmet to make sure everything was hooked up right, and it was. He just did not feel the effects of his experiment, although perhaps the effects were not going to be immediate. Jeremy heard footsteps coming from down the hall, and fearing it was his friends, stuffed his helmet into a drawer. Unexpectedly, the door to Jeremy's room opened.

Jeremy immediately spun around, lifting his leg in the middle of his turn, and swiftly kicking the intruder's head, all within a second. Jeremy only realized what he just did when he saw Jim's body fall to the ground. "That was different" he said to himself, paralyzed with shock. "Jim?" he called out, but the gym teacher was unconscious. "This is not good" he continued to talk to himself as he walked over to the body on the ground. He leaned over and felt Jim's pulse and breathed a sigh of relief as it was still beating, Jim was just knocked out for the time being.

Jeremy rolled Jim over to lie on his back, and noticed something strange: His band aid was coming off. Jim had always worn a band aid, but no one ever knew why. When anyone asked, Jim's response was always "I would talk about it if I knew why". At the moment, his band aid was sliding off his face, and Jeremy didn't know if he should reattach it, take it off, or leave it as is. After some hesitation, he leaned in to peel off the band aid from Jim's face.

What Jeremy saw lied under the band aid made him jump back several feet. A small bullet hole lied on Jim's face, scarred into his cheek. Jeremy's mouth trembled as he observed the mark engraved in his instructor's face. He quickly but the band aid back on Jim's face and pressed it down so the adhesive would stick. His hands shook with nervousness as Jeremy sat back down at his computer and tried to clear his head. After some deep breathing, he reactivated his computer's camera.

"Video Journal 126" he said into his computer's camera. "My experiment has been successful, and I have uploaded myself with polyspecter skills" he said. "Using the chip and the helmet, I was able to launch a specter that uses the helmet as a base rather than a supercomputer. Without XANA's influence during launch, the abilities are completely under my control. I intend on continuing not to tell my friends about my progress against ZAIA, but if you are watching this, I assume you know all about this. The chip I have used is only one of many I have that are compatible with the helmet. The other chips are located and labeled with the rest of my ZAIA information" he said before shutting off the camera.

**Present Time:**

"Its amazing what technology can do" Jeremy said as he flexed his fingers. "You are right" XANA said. "But I am very surprised you were able to go so long without telling anyone, especially Aelita". "This wasn't their battle" Jeremy responded. "And yet you're the one who materialized them into a government facility" William/XANA replied. "And it was that very action that allowed me to continue with my plans. Jeremy Belopis, by sending your friends to retrieve the chip, you helped me in bringing down society". That was the last thing either of them said before Jeremy walked up to William's body and attempted to punch his head.

Jeremy's head passed right through William's body, which proceeded to turn into grey static lines. "You should know better" XANA said. "I do" Jeremy replied with a grin. Jeremy focused 10,000 watts of electricity though his arm, which made contact with William's already static body. The combination created unbearable pain for William's body, which flew backwards and hit the sewer wall violently. Jeremy proceeded to jump over the water and stuck his elbow out as he approached William's body, which was sliding down the wall. XANA/William opened his eyes and grabbed Jeremy's elbow as he approached from the air. He swung Jeremy from his elbow to the side.

Jeremy, rather than breaking all of his bones hitting the ground, fazed through the sewers. XANA quickly looked all around the sewer, trying to figure out where Jeremy would re-appear. "Come out, come out" XANA said chirpily. "I'm over here" came Jeremy's voice from behind William's body, and XANA turned around quickly, but no one was there. "Or maybe here" Jeremy's voice came from where XANA was just facing, and he rotated back in that direction. "Perhaps I am everywhere" Jeremy's voice emitted throughout the entire sewer. "Good enough for me" XANA said with a shrug.

William's body sunk into the ground with a bang, dispersing as lightning that crept up the walls of the sewer. Electricity flashed throughout the entire sewer path. However, XANA was so focused on killing off Jeremy that he neglected to realize that there was a stream of water in the sewers, and water and electricity are never a good combination. William's body reappeared in the center of the sewers, in mid air, unconscious but experiencing limitless torture. His body floated in mid air while being violently shook around as his body experienced the reaction of water mixed with electricity. After a few moments, William's body became limp, and fell from the air into the water stream.

Jeremy fazed through the wall and re-entered the sewers. He walked up to William's body, not sure if he should be happy about this particular success. He stared at the limp body before kneeling down and checking William's pulse. He was still breathing, just unconscious. Jeremy pulled William's body out of the water and shoved him onto the pavement. After that, Jeremy proceeded down the path in the sewers to the factory. He climbed up the ladder and walked onto the bridge to the factory. Jeremy took a few moments to observe the factory. The place where all of this started. The place where he spent a good chunk of the past few years of his life. The place where he bonded with his friends, and if everything went according to plan, the last building he would enter on Earth. He was the one who awakened XANA all those years ago, and he had to be the one to destroy him, regardless of the consequences. He needed to end this.

He walked into the factory and entered the elevator. He traveled down to the computer interface and turned it on. He went into the computer's archives and pulled up the information on the space station supercomputer. He replaced the digital signal from the computer chip with that of the space station. Following that, Jeremy set up a timer to automatically materialize him into the space station. Jeremy, walked back into the elevator and traveled down to the scanner room, stepped into the central scanner, and let the computer fulfill its programming.

As Jeremy stood in the scanner, he thought through his plan. He knew it would be tough. The main obstacle against him would be what he would not be able to access to complete his quest. Years ago, shortly after Jeremy went to Lyoko for the first time to become immune to possession, he deleted his Lyoko profile on the account that he did not intend on ever returning, and thus wanted to save computer space. He had thought about giving himself some weapons for this current mission of his, but that would take up a lot of time, which would raise the possibility of his friends dieing.

First there was a loud "whooshing" sound, a flash of light, and the next thing Jeremy saw was the technology encrusted wall of the space station. Jeremy, despite his task, could not help but awe at the technology surrounding him. It was almost enough to make him reconsider his plan, but he knew he had to complete this task. He wandered through the space station, trying to find the supercomputer when he noticed his nose was starting to bleed. 'It's starting' he thought to himself as he started to rush through the station.

As he entered a new hallway, his head started to ache in the center of his forehead. He then looked up and noticed a tower of technology at the end of the hall. 'Almost there' he said to himself as he took another step towards the supercomputer, and with that step came another wave of pain to his head. 'I'm not passing out though' Jeremy thought to himself before checking his watch. 'And I should not go into another one for at least another half hour or so'. He took a few seconds to put the facts together before he realized why his body was starting to shut down on him:

The space station supercomputer was the one powering his temporal displacements. The closer Jeremy got to the source of the signal, the more his body felt its immediate effects. The more Jeremy walked to the supercomputer, the closer he walked towards his own demise. He thought this through in his head, but he did not change his mind. His personal fate would be the same even if he was not already feeling the effects of death take over, so he proceeded to take another step forward towards the supercomputer, as a wave of pain flew throughout his body, and sweat started to break from his face.

He was now entering the chamber of the supercomputer, and he felt magnetic forces pounding every inch of his body as he entered the circular chamber. He grabbed onto the computers lining the wall as he looked at the supercomputer, and as a computer nerd, recognized the beauty of the tech. He marveled at the resources in the room, and fully understood why it needed to be destroyed. Not just because XANA was currently using it, but because technology like this should not even exist, or at least not for spying on other governments.

Jeremy took another step forward towards the interface for this particular supercomputer, and with that came a burst of blood that ran down his nose. He brought his other foot forward, and this time felt the impact all in his head. Jeremy fell back onto the ground as his head throbbed violently. A tear ran down his face as he thought about what he was sacrificing by doing this. Although he was taking himself out of the picture, he was helping his friends more than anyone knew, and Jeremy was the only person who could do any of this.

Now on the ground, he was crawling towards the interface, and once he reached it, he activated it. He pulled himself up with by grabbing onto the computer, and the interface asked for a log on account. Jeremy grabbed the keyboard and typed in "10.9.13.". The interface continued to the systems desktop. Jeremy pulled up the DOS command panel and started typing in commands. After utilizing various computer codes, a command prompt came up on the screen. "Self Destruct Activation Protocol" popped up on the interface. Jeremy jabbed the enter key, and a countdown appeared on the screen.

Jeremy turned back around to marvel at the supercomputer for one last time. He hoped that his friends were still alive and safe. He hoped they would read his note and follow the directions he left for them. He hoped that what he was about to do would stop XANA. He hoped he would be remembered by his friends. He hoped that everything would come out perfect, but he was smart enough to know that nothing would ever end up perfect. After all, sacrificing himself was not exactly apart of his plan for the day, but that is what it boiled down to: sacrifice.

Jeremy, with his bones aching, walked out of the supercomputer room, his pain easing as he walked away from the supercomputer. He walked back out into the hallway, and rounded a couple of corners until he found what he was looking for: A view of the Earth below. He smiled as he looked down at the planet, and reminisced over the good times he had with his friends. He placed his hands on the glass, and felt the coldness of space that surrounded him. He took one last look at the space station, before looking back towards Earth. Knowing his moments were numbered, he smiled and let his life flash before his eyes. There was a boom, a flash, and the entire space station was enveloped in a ball of fire.


	13. Episode 13

Episode 13:

Endgame

**1997:**

It was just another day at the office for most, but deep inside of the French government's technology facilities, Damon was loading his pistol in one hand and a tranq gun in the other. He looked behind his shoulder to make sure the 10 security guards were still with him. "Ready?" He asked the squadron leader, who nodded curtly. "Let's do this" Damon said to himself quietly before walking around a corner and kicking in a door.

"You're under arrest for treason to the French government" Damon said as he walked through the door, and the armed forces followed behind him. Damon turned of his gun's safety and pointed it at the head of a man sitting at his desk and filing paper work as if nothing unnatural was taking place. "Calm down, Damon" the man said calmly. "There's no rush". "I would beg to differ. Every second you remain in this building, ZAIA gains strength" Damon replied. "Ahh" the man said, looking up to Damon eye to eye. "You finally traced it back to me".

"Why have you been doing this" Damon asked the man, using every bit of his concentration not to pull the trigger yet. "It's simple really. The French government has fantastic resources but is not using them appropriately" the man said. "How so?" Damon questioned, interested in learning ZAIA's motives. "Think about it Damon. Technology is on the rise, but we are behind the curve" the man stated dryly. "Instead of playing catch up, we should be leading the technological revolution". "So, you want to use technology to take over the world?" Damon questioned in an attempt to sum up what he needed to know.

"Take over the world?" the man chuckled. "No, of course not, I'm not insane. But I have seen what you have created with Franz. That kind of technology needs to be harnessed, and the government is unwilling to do that". Damon was getting impatient. "I have heard enough to take you in" he said. The man held up a finger and waved it for a few seconds. "I just have a couple of questions, if you don't mind." He said. "What do you want?" Damon said with a sigh.

"First, what's going to happen to ZAIA after I am gone? You can't just make the group and our progress disappear." he asked. "ZAIA is going to be absorbed into the government. We are going to liquidate most of the resources and keep what we need". "That's what I thought" the man responded. "And my other question, what is going to happen to me?" Damon smiled at the second question and smoothly responded. "Wouldn't you like to know".

**Present Time:**

"He was going to die anyways" Yumi said as she attempted to confort Aelita, who was breaking down on Jeremy's bed. Odd brought them all in to read his final words for them. "Yumi's right" Ulrich interjected. "His time travel thing was going to off him at one point anyways. He used his life to save ours" he added. Aelita sobbed on the bed and punched through the wall of the room. "Its not fair, why him?" she said through her tears. "Life isn't fair" Odd said. He was looking out the window at the chaos outside.

"How long ago did he leave?" Aelita asked, barely understandable. "The note was saved about 30 minutes ago" Odd replied, which caused Aelita to let out another batch of tears. "It's going to be ok" Yumi said as she leaned in to hug her friend. "Jeremy's gone" Aelita cried out. Ulrich and Odd watched on. Aelita's friends were also saddened by Jeremy's loss, and were using all their strength not to let their emotions pour, at least not until this mess was settled out. However, the gang was alarmed by the sound of an explosion outside. "What was that?" Ulrich asked hurriedly, and Odd ran back towards the window.

Outside, everyone was falling to the ground unconscious, the prime indicator that they were no longer being possessed. "I think… I think its over" Odd said. Aelita immediately got up from the bed and wiped her tears. "I need to see for myself" she said, but instead of walking towards the window, she walked out of Jeremy's room and started running down the hall to be followed by her friends. They exited the building and witnessed the aftermath of the chaos. Bodies were lying everywhere on the ground. Not dead, merely unconscious. "What the hell just happened" came a voice from behind the four of them, startling them all.

Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd quickly turned around and pulled out their weapons while Aelita charged a ball of energy in her hand and held it up inches from William's face. "Calm down, calm the hell down" William said, and the gang minus Aelita lowered their weapons. "How come you're not unconscious like them?" Aelita asked him, wiping her tears off her face with her other hand. "For starters, can someone explain to me why they are unconscious in the first place, and why the hell are you in your Lyoko gear?" he asked. Odd grabbed Aelita's shoulder and she turned around. "No need to be aggressive" he told her, and sighed before blasting the energy into the ground. "Let's go upstairs, we can explain everything, hopefully" she told him.

Back in Jeremy's room, the gang recapped their happenings since the graduation ceremony. "And so how come I am not unconscious like everyone else outside?" William asked at the end of the gang's explanation. "Maybe because you were on Lyoko at one point" Odd suggested. "That sounds very probable," Yumi added on, but had some questions of her own. "But where were you during all of this?" she said, pointing out Jeremy's window so William understood what she was talking about. "I think…. I might have been possessed" William said sincerely, and Aelita immediately started charging her palm again.

"Hold on Aelita" William quickly said. "You have to remember that I am not like you guys because of, er, how XANA took over my body for an extended period of time" he continued. "He does have a point" Ulrich said. "Your unique in your relationship with Lyoko, it makes you unpredictable". "Listen, I want to help" William said, trying to progress the discussion. "Well first we need to know what to do next" Yumi said.

"Jeremy said…" Aelita started to say with a couple tears, but she wiped them and continued. "… in his note… to check a folder in his computer drawer" she said, and the others immediately looked towards Jeremy's desk.

William was the closest to his desk, so he walked over and opened the drawer below Jeremy's computer, and pulled out a purple folder. "How do you know that's the right one?" Ulrich asked. "Well for starters, it's the only folder in there, but if your still skeptic, it says "ZAIA" in Sharpie on the side" William replied dryly, holding up the folder for the others to see. "Let me see it" Aelita said, back on Jeremy's bed and shaking, and William walks the folder over to her. In it lies a single piece of paper, which Aelita pulls out and reads.

"Count the alphabet" she said slowly, trying to comprehend the words on the paper. "That's all it says" she continues, looking up to the others. "Just 'count the alphabet'". William walks to Jeremy's computer and opens up a search. He types in 'count the alphabet' to see if anything comes up when he notices another tab open on Jeremy's computer. "Guys, come look at this" William said, and the others walked over. He clicked on the other tab, which was an internet browser opened up to Google News. In the middle of the page was the headline "French Government Announces New Cabinet Officers". William clicked on the headline and a video stream pulled up.

In a press hall on the other side of the nation, the President of France was at a podium, waving to the press that he was ready to start. "I am here today to announce a new member of the cabinet" he said. "As you all know, there have been some political scandals within our government lately, which has resulted in multiple replacements of our staff. I am here to announce a new member of our cabinet, in a newly created position designed to help reorganize our nation. Please welcome Damon Dunbar, Minister of Internal Security".

Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd watched the man who attacked them take the podium. "I know him" William said, and the others turned towards him. "What do you mean?" Aelita asked him solemnly. "That man, Damon Dunbar, is my uncle" William said, and he looked back at the video feed with the others. "Thank you, thank you" Damon said, though the group minus William knew the true user of that body. "I hope to restore order to our nation, and restore peace and unity" he continued to say before Ulrich leaned over and exited out of the browser.

"Why the hell did you do that?" William questioned. "You said that man is your uncle?" Yumi responded. "What if he is?" William replied aggressively. Ulrich chuckled before speaking. "That man is XANA" he said. William was shocked, though he didn't fully understand what Ulrich meant. "I thought you killed XANA" William said slowly. "I guess you didn't hear us when we told you XANA possessed a guy and attacked us" Odd said. "But, that's my uncle" William continued, still not comprehending the situation. "Not anymore" Aelita said quietly.

"XANA has infiltrated the government" Aelita continued to say. "He is trying to take over". "Well, what can we do about it?" William asked, and the group thought in silence for a couple moments. William took the folder back from Aelita and walked it back to the drawer when he noticed something else in the drawer. William reached in and pulled out a bag which contained a helmet, computer chips, and a piece of paper. "I remember that" Yumi said, walking towards the bag. "That's the helmet Jeremy built to increase his own intelligence" he said. "Didn't he destroy it?" Odd asked, but Aelita cut him off. "He rebuild it" she said.

Aelita took the bag from William and spilled its contents onto Jeremy's bed, and she picked up the piece of paper. "He upgraded it" she said as she read the notes Jeremy wrote on the paper. "How so?" Ulrich asked as he stared at the helmet he watched Jeremy destroy. "You see all these chips?" Aelita asked out loud as she pointed to the computer pieces on Jeremy's bed. "Each of them has different programs on them. You can plug them into the helmet, and the helmet can transfer the programming right into it's wearer" she said, growing more astonished at Jeremy's technology as she repeated his notes.

"So you're saying one could program themselves with unlimited intelligence?" Odd asked, referring to Jeremy's original use of the helmet. "Not just mental capacities" she said. "Physical as well. One could use this to control a specter possessing them" he explained. "This is all new to me" William said. "So what do we do with this tech?" Yumi asked the others. They took a few minutes to think of how they could apply this hardware, while Aelita looked through the different chips. "I think I know how" she said.

She picked up one of the chips and held it up for the others to see. "William, have you ever wondered why you were able to remember some events that theoretically never happened?" she asked William. "I had dreams of being with Yumi, and you guys said that actually happened, but was erased by one of your trips to the past things" he said, slightly confused. "It did happen, and you were able to remember it, a rare feat" Aelita said. "But I am bringing it up because it shows that memories can not really be erased, just blocked from the mind". "Why are you bringing this up?" Yumi asked Aelita, agitated that William was bringing up discussions on their past. Aelita held her hand open in front of her with the chip on her palm. "Because this particular chip can reverse memory blocks".

The group was stunned at this revelation. "You mean, we can actually return people's memories?" Odd asked slowly, trying to grasp this new concept. "Exactly" Aelita said. "Jeremy wrote that he dissected the return to the past technology to create it. We can bring back memories erased by those time trips" she continued. "Hold on, how does that help us?" Ulrich wondered. "XANA is in the government, we need to start building up… something against him" Yumi said to Ulrich, and Aelita nodded in agreement. "We can use this to return memories to people who can help us" Aelita said.

"When you say "people", who are you talking about? Are there others like me who knew about Lyoko?" William asked. "Sissy for starters" Odd commented. "She was one of the first people who knew about this, but circumstances prevented her from remembering". "We need to start building support against this new government regime before it's too late, and why not start with those who already know about Lyoko, even if they forgot?" Aelita presented to those around her. Odd looked back out the window. "They are going to start waking up soon" he said as he stared at the unconscious bodies. "We should start with Sissy" Ulrich said. "Jim to, he also helped us for some time" Yumi added, and Ulrich nodded in agreement. "Ulrich, Yumi, can you go Jim's body and bring it back here?" Aelita asked them. "Were on it" Yumi said, and she walked out of the room, followed by Ulrich.

"What about us?" Odd asked Aelita, pointing to himself and William. "Odd, can you go find Sissy?" she requested of him. "Sure, I'll be right back" he responded as he also walked out of the room. "And as for you" Aelita started, turning towards William. "I need you to go through Jeremy's computer and find anything that might help us. Do some more searches" she instructed to him. "What makes you the leader?" he asked her sternly. Aelita released a slight chuckle. "There is still a lot you don't know about me" she said as she turned to leave the room. "And where are you going?" William continued to question. Aelita stopped and thought about what to say before deciding on "its personal". She then walked out of the room, leaving William to search Jeremy's computer for info.

Jeremy woke up with a bang, his head pounding, and his eyes blurry. As his vision refocused, all he could see was white. All around him was bright white, as if he was being surrounded by suns at all angles. He tried to walk around, but was not able to. This was not because he was stuck though; it was because he was not standing on any ground. He was simply floating in a room of white. "What happened" he said to himself groggily, as he rubbed his face with pressure. "You died" came a voice from behind him. Startled, Jeremy swung around in the white air to face the source of the voice. "Or at least, your body did" said a bearded man in a white lab coat. The man stuck out his hand towards Jeremy, as if he were introducing himself. "Franz Hopper" the man said. "Pleasure to finally meet you".


	14. Season 2 Episode 1

Here we go, after a year of waiting, the sequel to "Project ZAIA". Here is a quick recap of the story so far:

Franz' Hopper used to have a partner, Damon Dunbar, and the two were behind Project Carthage, creating much of the technology involved in Lyoko. They realized that a group called "Zaia" was corrupting the government and they wanted to abuse the technology so Franz and Damon tried to destroy it. In the process Damon became infected with Damon, and Franz had to flee to Lyoko with Aelita. Damon was recruited by the government to take down Zaia. In the present, Jeremy, Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd, as well as their peers, are getting ready to graduate when Damon under XANA's control and the government come in and try to find the computer chip that XANA used to possess Aelita in season 2. In the process, Jeremy's conscious is unhooked in time, and he experiences time transfers that are slowly killing him. XANA gets unleashed onto the government computer network and infects the space station that once contained a replica. Jeremy travels to the station via Lyoko and sacrifises himself to destroy XANA and save his friends, who are on Earth fighting students possessed by XANA. Damon joins the government cabinet and is still possessed by XANA. Jeremy left a note to his friends on how to use the tech he created. The gang decided to start a resistance to XANA in the government. Jeremy left a note saying that the key to taking down XANA for good lays within Zaia, and says that they need to find out about Zaia by "counting the alphabet". The gang, now with William, decides to use Jeremy's tech to bring back memories of Lyoko in Jim and Sissy, and then... Find out now!

* * *

Episode 1:  
1-26

"Jeremy left us less than detailed instructions on how to take out the enemy" Ulrich said to Jim, whose head was still in pain, despite being awake for over a half hour. There was a knock on the door, and Ulrich stood up and opened it. Yumi walked in, holding a water bottle and some pain medication. "This will make you feel better" she told to Jim, who took the water and drank it with the pill.

"The question is though, who is the enemy?" Jim asked as he rubbed his head. "Were not quite sure" Ulrich said truthfully. "Other than XANA in the government of course" Yumi added, and Ulrich nodded in agreement. "Still though" she continued to say. "We need to find out what this ZAIA thing is" she finished. "And I still can't find anything on here" said William, who was on Jeremy's computer trying to find information for the task Jeremy left them.

"If Jeremy has data on here about them, he hid it well" he added. "Anyone have any ideas?" he asked as he stood up from the chair, but before anyone could answer, there was a knock on the door. "Its Odd, open up" said Odd from the hallway. Ulrich walked over to the door and opened it, and Odd rushed in, Sissy's limp body over his shoulders. "Put him down on the bed" Ulrich said, and Odd dropped her onto Jeremy's comforter. Odd grabbed the helmet from Jeremy's desk and fitted it over Sissy's head. "Make sure it's the right chip, we don't want to fry her brain" Yumi commented, and Odd stopped what he was doing and stared at Yumi with Ulrich for a couple moments in silence.

"Can we fry her brains? Would anyone miss it?" he asked humorously before Ulrich kicked his leg. "Ok, ok, it's the right chip" he said hastily. Jim watched in disbelief as the events unfolded around him. "William, can you help us hold her down?" Yumi called out, and William rushed over to Jeremy's bed and pushed Sissy's stomach down. "Everyone ready?" Odd asked to his peers, who nodded. Without saying another word, Odd flipped the switch on the helmet.

Sissy's body immediately expressed the shock of the helmet by flailing around on the bed. Blue sparks emitted from the helmet as Sissy's hair flew up from the static. "How long did this take with Jim?" Odd asked while holding down Sissy's head. "About 5 minutes" William responded. Odd looked back down at Sissy's body and imagined the pain her body was experiencing.

After only a couple of minutes, the helmet shut off, and Sissy's body stopped experiencing spasms. "That certainly not 5 minutes" Ulrich said as the helmet cooled off. "Maybe it took longer because he's older" Yumi wondered. "I can hear you guys" Jim said from the back of the room, but all eyes were not on Sissy, who was starting to move on her own. "Where… what the hell… I want…" she moaned sleepily. "Wait for it" Ulrich told Odd. "Why, what's going to happen?" he asked his friend, but Ulrich did not need to respond, as Odd saw what he meant.

Sissy grabbed her head with both of her hands and let out a scream. Odd immediately ran around the bed and grabbed Sissy's shoulders. "Calm down Sissy" he told her while panicking. "What the hell happened?" he asked to no one in particular. "Her brain and body need to adjust to the new old memories" William commented. "My heart is on fire" Sissy said as she looked right into Odd's eyes, before she fell unconscious again and fell back on the bed.

"Is that it?" Odd asked, his heart racing. "Should be, yea" Ulrich said. They all looked at Sissy's body, waiting to see what would happen next. "Now what?" asked Jim in the background, but before anyone could comment, Sissy's eyes opened. "Where am I?" was the first thing she asked before leaning up against the wall while staying in the bed. "Jeremy's room" Yumi informed her as Sissy rubbed her head. "And before you ask, here is some medicine for the pain" she continued to say as she handed Sissy one of the pills she retrieved for Jim. Sissy took the pill and swallowed it while looking around the room.

"What's going on here? Is this some secret club I don't know about?" she asked apprehensively as she noticed Jim sitting in the background. "Don't make me tell my father." she said. "Well, she's fine" Odd said, both relieved and annoyed at the thought of having Sissy bother him some more. "Sissy, we need to talk to you" Ulrich said, but Sissy stood up from the bed. "Whatever you're up to, my father will hear about" she continued to preach stubbornly. William, who was still by Jeremy's bed, walked over to Sissy as she was babbling on. "You're all in big trouble" she said, but before she could continue, William grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards the window.

"Get the hell off me" she cried. "When my father hears" she started to speak, but William interrupted her. "Shut up about your father, and look at this" he said as he put her in front of the window. Sissy's eyes widened as she saw the bodies of her acquaintances lying unconscious on the ground outside. "What…. what is going on?" she asked with fear in her voice. "You're about to find out kid" Jim commented from the side. "Sissy, do you remember anything about an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town?" Ulrich asked her. Sissy thought for a few moments before she rediscovered the memory from years ago.

"Something about a supercomputer, and a giant ball of electricity out to kill everyone" she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "And then… I didn't remember it at all" she continued. She turned around from the window to face her peers. "And not just that, I remember other things" she said horrified. "Giant bears, enormous crabs, and people who weren't acting like themselves" she continued slowly. As the weight of her returning memories hit her, she sat back down on Jeremy's bed. "These are all real memories" Sissy said in fear of what she now remembered. "We need your help Sissy" Odd softly said from the side.

Sissy turned to look up at Odd. "What happened?" she asked again. "XANA, the computer virus from that supercomputer, caused all those attacks you now remember, and is responsible for the chaos outside" Odd said as he sat down next to Sissy. "He has since escaped from the supercomputer and infiltrated the government" Ulrich said, building off of what Odd said. "And were putting together a team of people to stop him" Yumi added. Sissy looked around the room again before speaking directly to Jim. "How long have you been in on this?" she asked him. "Just a couple minutes longer than you have" he replied with a chuckle.

Sissy wasn't out of questions yet though, as she turned around and inquired about the friends of her allies. "And Jeremy? Aelita?" she asked. Odd bit his lip as Ulrich walked towards Yumi. William stood in the corner looking away, and Jim just looked at Sissy. "Jeremy died" Jim said sincerely. Sissy was frozen, not knowing what to say next. "I'm… sorry" she said slowly. "Are you all ok?" she asked, struggling to find the right words to display her feelings, given her notorious lack of caring in the past. "Were putting our emotions aside for the moment" Ulrich said strongly. "And what about Aelita?" Sissy continued to ask. "Well… she needed some time alone" Odd answered.

Aelita meanwhile was running through the forest, so fast that the tears were flying off her eyes. Jeremy was gone, that was all that had mattered. Her friends might be able to bottle up their feelings for the time being, but Aelita had a different relationship with Aelita. He freed her from her prison, gave her back her memories, and almost saved her father. More than that though, he was a great friend, and they just didn't have enough time with each other. Aelita ran through the forest, but it wasn't mindlessly. After following the trails she and her friends traveled along so many times, Aelita reached her old house.

She eyed the Hermitage from a distance before deciding to go in. Slowly, she approached the front door and walked in. The house was still the mess that she and her friends found it as, and she wouldn't want it any other way. Aelita looked around the floor, looking for something to embrace. She immediately was reminded of Mr. Puck, but her doll was back at Kadic. She decided to walk upstairs to her old bedroom, but thought it would be better to visit her dad's old room.

Tears fell from Aelita's eyes as she observed the partially destroyed room. First her mother, then her father, and now Jeremy. And yet, if it were not for Jeremy in the first place, Aelita would not be in her old house right now mourning those she has lost. She sat on the floor In silence as she realized that Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were the only friends left to her. After loosing her parents and Jeremy, she did not want to loose them. On the floor of her dad's room, she decided that she needed to stop XANA at all costs to avoid loosing the rest of her friends.

She got up and wiped the tears off her face, although she could not stop them from flowing. She took one last look at her dad's room, and turned around to leave, but something caught her eye. Aelita looked back around and noticed a photograph of her dad and another man near the windowsill. Curiously, she walked over to the picture frame. She had seen this picture before, but this was different. She recognized the man standing with her father in the photograph. She picked up the picture frame and looked at the photo inside it of Damon and Franz looking smiling at the camera, and she recognized the man aside her dad as the cause of the recent mayhem.

On the bottom of the picture was a little arrow pointing downwards. Aelita didn't understand what that meant, but she was determined to find out. She threw the picture frame on the ground, and removed the picture from the shards of glass. She flipped the picture around, and on the back were the letters AFG. She whispered the letters to herself, trying to figure out what they meant, until she recalled Jeremy's note to count the alphabet. Aelita quickly ran the letters through her head and associated each one with a number. "1, 6, and 7" she repeated to herself slowly as she picked up her cell phone.

Back at the dorms, Odd's phone rang. He checked the caller ID and immediately answered the call. "Aelita?" he asked into the phone. "Yea, its me" she replied, trying to stifle her tears. "How is everything going back at Kadic?" she asked him. "Fine so far. Jim and Sissy are safe with us, aware of the situation, and have their memories back thanks to Jeremy's contraption" he responded, and Aelita breathed a sigh of relief. The more people on their side, the better. "Can you put me on with William?" she asked Odd, who handed the phone over to William.

"How is the search going?" she asked William. "Not so well, I can't find any useful information on here" he answered, sounding discouraged. "How exactly have you been searching for data?" she inquired. "I just keep putting key words through the search widget, but nothing is turning up that we don't already know" he replied. "I think I know why" she said. "Put me on speakerphone" she said, and William complied, interested in what she had to say. "Hi everyone" Aelita said to the group of people now in Jeremy's old room.

"Jeremy's last message was 'Count the alphabet'. Perhaps we need to search for info through numbers rather than letters" she suggested, and her peers mulled the idea over. "Who would waste time taking data in numbers?" Jim wondered out loud. "If Jeremy coded information, it was so no one else could get to it" Aelita responded over the phone. "Do you have any suggestions on what to search than?" Ulrich asked Aelita, who grabbed the picture of her dad and Damon and said "yes".

"William, do a search on the number code '1.6.7.' and tell me if anything comes up" she told William, who proceeded to type those numbers into the computer and pressed the search button. After a couple seconds, a document popped up on the screen. At the top of the document in bold were the numbers '...', which William read out loud to Aelita over the phone. "I know I usually reserve this question for Jeremy, but can someone translate that into English?" Odd said.

Aelita began running the numbers through her head, as William worked them out on the computer and Yumi worked with Ulrich on decoding the numbers on a piece of paper. "1 is 'A', and 9 is 'I'" Yumi said as she worked out the vowels. "Then the first four letters are 'trai'" Aelita said. "The first 5 letters spell 'train'" William contributed. "Almost all those letters repeat in the second word" Odd commented as he watched Yumi and Ulrich try to solve the puzzle first. "'S' is before 't', both in the alphabet and next in the pattern" Yumi commented. William filled the repeating letters in. "The fifteenth letter is 'O" Jim said from the sidelines, and the group put all the letters together.  
"Train station" Aelita heard Ulrich say from over the phone. "That's all it says. Train station". Aelita closed her eyes and though about what that could mean when she remembered the first three numbers. "You there Aelita?" she heard Odd ask. "Yea, I'm just thinking" she replied. She remembered the numbers 1, 6, and 7 from somewhere, but where? And what did a train station have to do with it? She started to sweat lightly under pressure, and wished that she had Mr. Puck with her, and that's when it clicked.

"The locker at the train station" she said quickly as she realized what the numbers meant. "The locker where Jeremy found my dad's diary" she continued. "What about it?" Yumi asked. "The locker number is 167. I think we need to go there." she said quickly. "Hold on, don't we need a key to open a locker?" Jim commented from the sidelines. "We have one, or at least we had one" Ulrich said. "I have no idea what Jeremy did with it after he found the diary". "I know where it is" Aelita commented. "Jeremy and I put it back in Mr. Puck. That's where it was originally hidden" she continued.

"Yumi, can you go get the key?" Aelita asked her friend. "No problem, I'll be right back" she said as she turned around and left the room. "We need to get to the train station" Aelita said. "I can drive us there" Jim said as he stood up. "I know how to get there, and more importantly, I'm the only one with a license". "Very good point" Odd commented as Yumi ran back into the room with Mr. Puck. "I have Puck, where is the key?" she called out loud to Aelita, panting for air. "Behind the left eye" Aelita said. "Isn't that from a movie?" Ulrich asked. "It's from the Saw movies, which Jeremy and I despised. That's how we remembered where the key was" Aelita responded. "Einstein never was one for horror films" Ulrich commented as Yumi used a pencil to cut out the eye.

Inside the doll was the familiar key. "We have it" William said to Aelita. Aelita breathed a sigh of relief back at the Hermitage. "I'll meet you guys there" she said to her friends. She hung up her phone, and pocketed the picture. Silently, she looked around the room, before walking out and closing the door. She had work to do.


	15. Season 2 Episode 2

Episode 2:  
Back From The Dead Part 1

Yumi was putting on makeup in the bathroom when she heard a knock on the door. "You ready?" Ulrich asked her from the other side. "Just a moment" Yumi said, putting the final layers of concealer on her face to cover up the stripes on her Cheek from her Lyoko outfit. "I need some clothing though to put over my battle suit" Yumi continued. Since she, along with Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd were digitalized onto Earth in their Lyoko outfits, and the scanners were not functional, they all had to live with their Lyoko abilities and costumes. "We need to cover them up the best we can, and all my clothing is at my house" Yumi commented. "I'll see if I can find anything your size in Aelita's room" Odd said from across the door. He ran out of the room before anyone had the opportunity to hit him. Sissy followed him out of Jeremy's dorm.

"So what's it like, being on Lyoko?" she asked him as he put on a pair of gloves to cover his hands. "It's like a video game, except the stakes are real" he said as they walked down the hallway. "How did you get your costume?" she continued, rolling through the list of questions in her mind. "Jeremy said that our costumes are based off of subconscious thoughts or something like that" Odd said. "Evidently, even though I own a dog, I like cats".

"So how did you get wrapped up in all of this?" Jim asked William, still in Jeremy's room. "Well first I found out by stalking Yumi, then they voted to erase my memories, then they brought me back in, then I was turned evil, then good again, then evil for a second, brief, period of time, good again, and then forgotten about" William said quickly. "And you?". "They let me in to help with a roach infestation" Jim said, intriguing William. "That was before you started at Kadic" Jim said, noticing William's curiosity.

Yumi exited the bathroom, her makeup complete. "You look great" Ulrich said while smiling. "Thanks" Yumi replied hurriedly. "How is your clothes fitting?" she asked Ulrich. "It's working fine, but I can only carry one sword without looking like I'm the hunchback of Notre Dame" he answered. "Right, with one stord sticking out, you're the halfback" Odd said as he reentered the room with Sissy, carrying clothing for Yumi. Odd chuckled to himself but stopped after recognizing the silence in the room. "Get it?" he asked his peers, all staring at him. "One half of Ulrich's sword set" he said weakly. "Football player…. Movie reference…" he continued before giving up. "Here's a jacket and some long pants" Sissy said, removing the top clothing items from Odd's arms, as Odd stared blankly at the ground. "We also brought some for Aelita" she said.

"My car only fits 4" Jim said to the others as they rushed into the Kadic parking lot. "You take Odd and Sissy" William said without hesitation. "I'll take Ulrich and Yumi". With no time to waste, they split up into their groups and walked towards their cars. "How is Aelita going to get there?" Ulrich asked Yumi as Willim unlocked his car. "She'll manage" Yumi said quietly as they entered the car. No sooner did they get in than William's phone rang. Yumi and Ulrich watched him as he checked the caller ID. "It's Jim" he said with relief. He answered the call and turned on the speakerphone as he pulled out of the parking space.

"William, do you know how to get to the station?" Jim asked. "Don't you just take 132nd south for 10 minutes?" William replied. "Sissy, leave Odd's hair alone" the three could hear Jim saying to his passengers. "Sorry about that. William, just follow me, I know a shortcut" Jim said briskly before hanging up the phone. William put his car in park for a moment, and he knew the three of them were thinking the same thing. "Sissy was playing with Odd's hair?" he asked Ulrich and Yumi curiously. "I didn't know there was a shortcut to the station" Yumi said in response. Ok, maybe William wasn't think the same thing as his passengers. He swung his stick shift into drive and followed Jim out of the parking lot.

"Sissy, let go of my hair" Odd was screaming in Jim's car. "How do you get it to be purple in the middle?" Sissy asked him curiously. "Please stop, you can't possibly be this annoying. When do you run out of questions?" Odd pleaded. Jim, who was talking into his phone in the front of the car turned around quickly. "Sissy, leave Odd's hair alone" he said before turning back towards the road. Sissy let go of his hair reluctantly. "Is everything ok Sissy?" Odd asked her slowly after he noticed her fiddling with her fingers. "I don't deal with stress very well" she said to him. "Stress is all about conquering your fears" Jim said as he hung up his phone. "You have nothing to be worried about Sissy" he reassured her.

Miles away, Aelita was sprinting towards the train station. She ran against the wind, and through the trees of the forest, trying to stay out of sight. "Count the alphabet" she thought to herself. Jeremy's final words, but why? What was the importance of numbers and letters? What did he know that she didn't? She clenched the key in her hand as she tried to make sense of Jeremy's note. A tear ran down her cheek as she thought of Jeremy, but she suppressed the urge to grieve. There was work to be done, and you can't let your guard down to emotions when danger is present. She looked ahead, observing the end of the natural forest and a busy intersection ahead.

As she reached the edge of the forest, she hid behind a tall tree to avoid being seen. Aelita quickly peeked around the corner to count the amount of security cameras at the intersection. She had no doubt that Damon was keeping an eye on all security devices around Kadic, so the only way to stay safe was to stay hidden. Crouching down behind the tree, Aelita put the locker key into her arm sleeve and charged 2 weak energy fields in her palms. Nervousness crept over her, so she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. As her heart rate slowed, she counted down from 5 to one, knowing what she was about to get herself into. 5 seconds passed, and Aelita opened her eyes. Without wasting time, she stood up and walked out from behind the tree.

Immediately, Aelita aimed her palms at the traffic cameras observing the intersection and released her energy fields, and charging new ones in their place. They all hit their targets, the four cameras. They were only charged enough to disable the cameras without blowing them up noticeably. Aelita sprinted across the intersection to an orchestra of honking car horns. "Sorry" she called out to the drivers, not that they could hear her over the automobile equivalent of a vuvuzela symphony. She made it across the first intersection easily, but as she progressed further into the city, the traffic and crowds grew.

Noticing she was garnering unwanted attention, Aelita slid into an alley behind a supermarket. She surveyed the area. The alley was deserted except for Aelita and another passerby, coming from the opposite end of the alley. Aelita tried her best to look unsuspecting as the man walked by her, despite the fact it looked like she was wearing a high tech Halloween costume. She nodded curtly to the man as he walked by, and he nodded back, and that's when Aelita noticed his pupils, or rather what replaced them. Instead of a simple dot pupil, his eyes were filled with a plus sign, surrounded by a circle. It wasn't the eye of XANA, but Aelita knew it wasn't right, and before she could turn around to confront the man, he grabbed her from behind.

Instinct kicked in, and Aelita opened her wings, hoping to stab her capturer to no avail. As the wings spread outward through his body, his body fizzled as static. "How did you find me?" Aelita asked as she struggled to break free as the man dragged her backwards. "Disabling cameras so I wouldn't see you was smart. Not knowing that disabled cameras would indicate you or your friends was less smart" the man said with a gruff voice, layered with XANA's. "And why are his eye's different?" Aelita asked, referring to the unusual symbol in the possessed man's eyes. "Consider it an upgrade" the man said as a smile spread across his face. He moved his hands up to Aelita's neck, and attempted to strangle her. "Remember" the man said. "The scanners are disabled. You die here, you die for good".

"The scanners are disabled, I should have died for good" Jeremy said to Franz. The two were in the endless white space of virtual limbo, Franz having been there for a long time, and Jeremy a new resident. "Should have, perhaps" Franz commented, intriguing Jeremy. "Perhaps?" Jeremy questioned. "I read all your code, memorized the supercomputer's functions. 'Perhaps' doesn't exist in technology". "No, but it does exist in human error" Franz replied, leaving Jeremy silent. "Come" Franz said, beckoning Jeremy to follow him. "Now that you're dead, you should get some answers".


	16. Season 2 Episode 3

Episode 3:  
The True Enemy

"Even if you kill me, you can't stop my friends" Aelita said as she stirred in her captor's arms. "No, I probably can't" the man replied, confusing Aelita who stopped struggling for a moment. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked the man, who continued to drag her out of sight in the alley. "I am pretty sure your friends can beat me" XANA said through the possessed man. "Then…" A bewildered Aelita replied. "What's your plan?" XANA chuckled before releasing Aelita, letting her fall to the ground.

"Insanity is not in my base code" XANA said as he walked around Aelita, lying on the ground. "You know I can attack you right now?" Aelita pointed out, observing XANA's irregular behavior. "Yes, but I know you won't because I have info you desire" he said, continuing to pace around Aelita. "As I was saying, it's pretty obvious from experience that trying to kill you and your friends is a waste of time for me". "You could kill me right now if you wanted to" Aelita pointed out sternly. XANA stopped pacing and faced Aelita with a smile. "I could, but my associates wouldn't be happy about that" he said, startling Aelita. "Associates?" she asked slowly.

"It's nothing, but a good time" Jim was singing along to the radio in his car. Jim was leading William to the train station, and they were now embarking on the highway. "Don't you to like classic rock?" he asked to Sissy and Odd in the backseat. "I'm a Subsonics fan" Odd said. "Didn't they only release, like one song?" Jim asked in return. "Yea, but it's a good one" Odd responded. "And you Sissy?" Jim continued. "I like that "I'm a Barbie Girl" song" she answered eagerly. "If the shoe fits" Odd responded as he rolled his eyes. "No, that's Cinderella" Sissy said.

In the car behind Jim, Odd, and Sissy, Ulrich was trying his best not to bring up the relationship tension between himself, Yumi, and William. "So, uh, William, see any good movies lately?" he asked the car's driver. "I watched Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time with Yumi last week" he replied. Mission failed. Yumi, sitting in the passenger seat next to William, turned around and smiled weakly at Ulrich. "As friends" she added. "Right, of course" Ulrich said with a nod. "Quiet down for a moment" William said abruptly, waving one of his hands to get attention. "Some ass is trying to cut me off".

"I think someone's trying to cut William off" Jim said to Odd and Sissy as he looked out his window. In the lane to the left of them, a blue SUV was trying to cut between Jim's and William's cars. William aggressively honked at the driver while simultaneously giving him the middle finger. William started speeding up to close the gap between his car and Jim's. "Stay calm William" Yumi said as she watched him hit the gas pedal. "People don't know how to drive anymore" he replied, staring at Ulrich through his rear view mirror. "That was years ago" Ulrich commented. "I've learned a lot since that driving test Jim put us through".

Meanwhile, Jim noticed William picking up speed, and decided to do the same. Unfortunately, the blue SUV decided to speed up with them in unison. Jim grabbed the stick shift and upped his car to the fourth gear. He looked out his window, and saw another car on the lane to their left, about a quarter mile ahead. The SUV would have to slow down before reaching traffic, while Jim and William's lane was clear. "This might get bumpy" Jim said to his passengers in the backseat. Odd swiftly buckled up, while Sissy tried to fit the seatbelt into the buckle. "The other one, Sissy" Odd said, noticing her struggle, and she quickly clicked her harness into the correct buckle.

William accelerated faster, realizing the SUV was also moving faster in tandem with his car and Jim's. William also noticed upcoming traffic in the SUV's lane, and smiled when he realized Jim's plan. "Hang on guys" he said to Ulrich and Yumi, and floored the gas pedal. William glanced at his speedometer. One second it said 60, then 65, and 70 just as quickly. The number kept rising until… Ulrich's phone went off. "It's Odd" he said, reading the caller ID. "What's the plan?" Ulrich asked his friend. "Hi Ulrich" came Sissy's voice from the other line. "How the hell did you get my phone?" came Odd's voice from the background. There was some fidgeting, and some static, and then Odd's voice came through clearly.

"Sorry about that, she must have taken it back in the parking lot" Odd said. "Something like that" Ulrich commented. "Who did you piss off in the SUV?" he asked. "Oh, ha ha" Odd snarked sarcastically. "Just because someone is chasing us means it's my fault"? "It normally is" Ulrich replied. In the front, William let off the gas pedal when he reached 80 miles per hour, but the SUV would not slow down. "Ulrich, give me the phone" William commanded from the front. "I'm capable of communication, thanks" Ulrich said. "Fine, then ask Jim if we should take a detour". "Odd, can you put Jim on the phone?" Ulrich asked Odd. "Hold on" said Odd, who clicked a button on his phone. "Now you're on speakerphone" Odd said. "Good idea" Ulrich said, putting his phone on speaker as well.

"Jim, what's going on?" William asked Jim quickly. They, along with the SUV in the lane to their left, were quickly approaching a pick-up truck in the lane to their left. "If this guy doesn't slow down, he's going to crash" Jim said. The approaching truck was only 30 feet away, and the distance was closing quickly. "What is he doing?" Yumi wondered aloud and stunned. 25 feed. "Can he not see the traffic?" Ulrich added on. 20 feet. "I'm honestly thinking about cutting him off just to force him to slow down" Jim said, amazed of the SUV driver's commitment. 15 feet. "Hold on, I have an idea" Odd said from the backseat of Jim's car. "Sissy, roll down the window and duck" he said confidently. 10 feet. With time running out, Odd removed the glove from his left hand, and aimed it at the SUV's tires. 5 feet. "What's Odd doing?" Ulrich asked, seeing Odd moving around from Jim's car's back window. He was about to find out. "Laser Arrow" Odd said to himself, reassuring himself. 2 arrows fired from his hand, and flew through the open window, hitting the SUV's front two tires. However, while their failure to pop the SUV's tires initially disappointed Odd, the disappointment was only short lived, and quickly replaced by the realization that on impact, the entire SUV turned into a giant static image.

Back in the alley, Aelita was trying to process this new information. "How can you have associates?" she asked XANA, with her curiosity being the only thing restraining her from attacking her foe. "I don't want to spoil anything for you" XANA said, enjoying the ability to tease her. "But let's just say that some people are just pure evil. If you think I'm bad, just wait until you meet who created me" he continued. "Damon Dunbar and my father created you" Aelita responded. "They created a prototype of me, but what you see today, is the result of the ZAIA organization" he smirked. "And as for the man who repurposed me, the less said the better".

"ZAIA" Aelita wondered out loud quietly. "Jeremy was researching that group" she continued. "ZAIA is the reason I was created, and is the reason for what I have become" XANA proudly conceded. "And how does Damon factor into it?" Aelita questioned XANA. "Damon and your dad were trying to take down the organization. Then I recruited him" he replied. "You possessed him" Aelita pointed out. "Same thing" XANA said with a shrug. "I posed as him to get into the government, and as you know, have since infected the entire system". "And what about this person, the head of ZAIA?" she asked. "Jeremy was close to finding out who he was. I'm sure you will find out to, but not by your own choice" he said.

"Jim, floor it" William said into the phone, still on speakerphone after witnessing the blue SUV shatter into static after Odd tried to flatten it's tires. William didn't even finish his sentence before Jim hit the gas pedal. Ulrich grabbed onto the handle on the door as he watched the SUV phase right through the truck in front of it.


End file.
